Back to Black
by boots26
Summary: A strange orphan has everyone very intrigued at Hogwarts. **Golden Trio/ Marauder era flashbacks/ drama/humor and eventual romance await!**  Please read Author's note at beginning of story for more info
1. Prologue

**BACK TO BLACK**

___Hello all! ___

__disclaimer: No...I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a genius!)__

_author's note: Admittedly, I've had to change a few things to better suit the story I'd like to tell._

_I have made Severus Snape and Bellatrix LeStrange the same age, meaning they would have been in the same grade. The year that the Longbottoms were tortured has also been changed from 1981 to 1980. Severus was also never in love with Lily. I chose to model the orphanage in this after the one in the movie, Wool's Orphanage. In this story, it has not been torn down and still stands as an active orphanage. I have also changed the way legilimency is used, just slightly to better suit my character.  
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_ Also, DH never happened, obviously, and some events of POA, HBP and OOTP as well. I hope you will all allow for the departures from the original lore that I have taken here. I realize it may not be very faithful to the books, but hey… that's why this is fanfiction- right?_

_The majority of this story is set in the golden trio's last year, but there will be many flashbacks to the Marauder years… and many delightful cameos along the way!_

_ Also, please note, the chapters will get longer as the story progresses, as will the maturity of the younger characters.  
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_ Sit back and enjoy my take on the complexity of the Bella/Snape relationship…_

_*laughs wickedly *_

_ -boots-_

* * *

><p><em>"I wept not, so to stone within I grew." – Dante Alighieri<em>

**NOVEMBER – 1980**

"Don't do this, Bella"

"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix LeStrange flung her wand at the wizard, with a sneer of disgust.

"You don't have to do this" Severus Snape's eyes were unwavering and cold – never betraying the horrors he had seen and the torment he had suffered.

"You know I must," she said barely above a harsh whisper.

"Please!" Alice Longbottom screamed and began to stand up.

"Back down on the floor, you filthy bitch"

"Please… I beg of you…I need to see my baby… please!" The badly beaten woman tried desperately to stand to her feet when something seemed to catch her attention as she stared up at the crazed witch.

"Please- I need to get to my baby…I know you understand…"

Bellatrix kicked her and stomped down on her right shoulder, dislocating it instantly. For a brief moment, a flicker of sympathy passed over the witch's chiseled face, but it was quickly replaced once more by revulsion.

"Crucio!"

Alice Longbottom screamed as if her heart were on fire. She ripped at her chest, tearing her own bruised flesh to ribbons. Frank Longbottom was extremely weak, but he managed to crawl to his wife's side. He gripped onto her to keep her from harming herself but she continued to writhe wildly in his arms.

"Why are you doing this? Please…" Frank pleaded.

"All you have to do is tell me what I wish to know Frankie…" There was an oddly playful cadence to her voice, but it was altogether menacing when combined with her heavy lidded eyes and wickedly smiling mouth.

"Tell me where he is," She screamed violently and pointed her wand at him again.

Frank chanced a look at Snape and Bellatrix followed his gaze.

"Severus… please… help us"

The dark witch's eyes widened and she lowered her wand slightly.

"You're a coward" Her voice was eerily quiet.

"Bellatrix…" Severus never once looked at Frank, "It appears they are telling the truth… I see no reason to continue with this… line of questioning… we both know it's beneath you"

For a moment, Frank looked relieved and inhaled deeply, wrapping his arms once more around his now shivering wife.

"I suppose you're right Snape…I suppose we don't really need them after all... Avada-"

"Bella- stop" Severus never raised his voice or flinched.

"Then perhaps _you_ would like to finish them off?"

He said nothing; just stared at her- searching for some evidence of the girl he had known before. Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and twirled swiftly on her heel.

"Crucio!"

The curse ripped through Frank and Alice rapidly, absorbing their very souls in agony. Bellatrix cackled maniacally and placed a hand on her hip as she admired her spell work.

"Why are you doing this?"

The witch spun on her heel again and stalked over to Severus. As she approached him, he noticed her gait was slightly slower than usual. "I like to hurt people" She was within an inch of his face now and her scent enveloped him… smoke and long dead leaves… "Are you gonna go running off to your precious Dumbledore now then?" she pouted playfully.

"This isn't a game Bella… people are dead… you'll be sent to Azkaban for what you've done… or worse"

Bellatrix lowered her gaze and swallowed back a nervous laugh. "As if anything could be any worse than the imprisonment I feel by the very blood in my veins" she mumbled and crossed her arms.

Severus furrowed his brow. She confused and scared him in moments like this- he never knew what to say.

"Bella… I know you think I can't…You... you don't need to stay with him… I will _always_ take care of you… I will-"

Bellatrix lunged at his mouth, crashing her lips against his roughly.

Severus had never been very good at expressing himself. "Let me love you…"

She placed a finger over his lips to silence him, tracing the spot where her own lips had been just moments before.

"Petrificus Totalus" She said dryly before lowering herself over his rigid body. "Love's just another excuse to get hurt, Severus… remember that well"

Those were the last words Bellatrix LeStrange would say to Severus Snape for many a year. And that was also the last time that Severus would allow himself to feel anything… ever again.


	2. The Orphan

**ELEVEN YEARS LATER**

Albus Dumbledore had never wanted to return to this place.

Downtown London was gray and the same city smells he had experienced all those many years ago assaulted his senses almost instantly. Some young boys were shooting marbles on the side of the road, and the sound of the marbles clicking against one another echoed down the alleyways like gunfire. It was enough to put anyone on edge.

Everything around this building seemed to have caught up with the modern age – and yet…. Wool's Orphanage was precisely as he remembered it – high Victorian walls and an altogether intimidating industrial age iron door. Albus rather thought this looked more like an asylum for the mentally disturbed than the sort of place where children learned how to grow up. A familiar chill ran over his body as he tugged the rusted pulley on the worn and out of date doorbell.

The door made a horrible metallic scraping sound as it opened, and a stern faced woman with an unnervingly lazy eye showed him in. The halls were cold and uninviting- not at all like the opulent hallways of Hogwarts, which were lined with thick tapestries and accented by soft candlelight.

"You ere for the young Hitchens boy then?" Her voice was raspy and had the same timbre to it that sandpaper has when dragged along splintered wood.

Albus nodded "I am "

"He's in ere" She stopped before another imposing iron door and lifted the heavy latch with some difficulty.

"Do you keep all of your… wards… under such strict security?"

"He's a troublemaker- this one… likes to set things on fire…"

Albus swallowed a hard lump in his throat- this was far too coincidental for his liking.

"We've had some problems with this one alright…" the old woman coughed.

Once again, there was an abrasive scraping sound as she struggled to push the cumbersome door open.

"Do watch yerself sir… he's been known to bite"

Albus nodded and started to wonder if he was making a grievous mistake in coming here. With great reluctance, the old wizard stepped into the same room he had told himself he would never step through again.

The door closed behind him with a loud clang and he jumped a little at the sudden slam. The room was small and poorly lit. A dingy cot stood in the corner, beside a small desk and chair. It alarmed Albus to see that this particular room had hardly changed in fifty-three years.

The boy was sitting at the desk, staring out the window and did not appear to acknowledge the intrusion at all. His hair was long and stringy, and ran down his back in limp black lines.

"Mr. Hitchens… do you know why I'm here?"

The boy said nothing, but chanced a slight look over his shoulder at the old man.

Albus took a step closer and the boy flinched.

"I'm not going to hurt you, my boy" Albus smiled warmly and slowly took a seat on the worn little cot. "You're special, Mr. Hitchens… you're... different… am I right?"

The boy continued staring out the window.

Albus took a deep breath and sat down beside him. Perhaps the records had been wrong – perhaps this boy was a muggle after all. Albus fidgeted with a piece of parchment in his hands.

"Tell me, Mr. Hitchens... why do you think I'm here?"

Again, the boy was perfectly silent.

Albus attempted to engage the boy in conversation for nearly an hour to no avail.

"I have in my hands an acceptance letter to the school I've been telling you about… you won't be treated the way they treat you here." Albus sighed, "There are other children just like you there"

The boy raised an eyebrow and tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear, but never once broke his gaze from the window. For another half an hour or so, Albus tried to get the young boy to open up. But it was of no use. The boy did not appear to be extraordinary in the least.

"Well", Albus stood – resigned that he would waste no more time at Wool's Orphanage if there was no need. "It appears perhaps we misjudged your… particular skills…" Albus turned to leave, his weary eyes lingering for a moment on the dilapidated wardrobe by the door. With heavy disappointment, he reached for the doorknob but chanced one more look back at the boy, whose cold eyes fell on him like a guillotine.

_Don't go._

"What was that, lad?" Albus turned back to the boy, who did not appear to have moved from his spot by the window. "Did you say something?"

The boy was once more, silent.

_Let me see the letter up close._

"Merlin's Beard…" Albus approached the boy cautiously and handed him the letter. Was the boy using some sort of Legilimency?

The boy suddenly jerked his head around and stared directly at the wizard, which startled Albus to say the least.

"What's legi…legimency, Mr. Dumbledore, sir?"


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Minerva McGonagall carefully scanned the young eager faces before her. Of course, she recognized Harry Potter instantly, but many other faces stood out just as well. The flaxen haired boy was undoubtedly a Malfoy and the red head with the silly grin plastered to his freckled face was most certainly a Weasley.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts." As the witch pursed her lips to continue, her eyes fell on a particularly surly looking child with long, limp hair that hung down past his shoulders, with eyes that were as blank and unwavering as a Thestral's. For some reason, the sight of this sullen boy unnerved her, but she took a deep breath and continued her formal welcoming speech.

As the first years filed in, there was much whispering back and forth regarding the famous Harry Potter. Everyone wanted to know what House he would be placed in. So, once he was placed in Gryffindor, much of the interest in the sorting ceremony died down. The rest of the first years continued to be placed until there was only one remaining.

"Hadrian Hitchens"

The skinny boy took a step forward but paused just before sitting upon the stool. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and he turned sharply to see Professor McGonagall staring at him. The look he shot her was enough to cool anyone's blood and again, the elder witch felt strangely intimidated by this child.

"Hmm…Well, well… I wondered when I may get someone like _you_ under my rim…"

This remark by the Sorting Hat appeared to have gone unnoticed by everyone in the Great Hall. Most people were eating and quietly chatting with their new housemates. Even the staff had begun carrying on as if the ceremony was over. A nervous looking man, Professor Quirrell, raised an eyebrow and briefly regarded the boy before returning back to his conversation with the ill-tempered Potions Master, Professor Snape. In fact, the only two people who seemed to have heard the silly old hat at all were Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. The Headmaster set down his goblet and peered intently at the boy through his half moon spectacles.

"Yes… you will be difficult to place…your heart is… neither courageous nor is it cruel… it is neither judgmental nor is it trusting… it appears your heart is… broken?"

McGonagall exchanged a worried glance with Dumbledore as they waited for the hat to make a final decision.

"Yes well, better be Slytherin then…" the hat mumbled almost inaudibly. The unremarkable boy took his seat and there was no thundering applause, or whoops of laughter or any other such recognition as there had been for other students. Hadrian Hitchens stepped down from the stool and took a seat at the Slytherin table.

* * *

><p>After the welcoming feast, it was time for students to retire to their respective common rooms and be assigned their roommates. In all the excitement, Hadrian hadn't really had time to consider what it meant to be placed in Slytherin House. The Headmaster had given him a copy of Hogwarts a History, which he read cover to cover in less than a day. Although the boy was reserved, it was obvious by his interest in the book, just how excited he actually was by the prospect that he was attending a "magic" school. When Dumbledore had revealed to him that he was a "wizard", Hadrian had accepted it instantly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world – and the Headmaster found this rather amusing.<p>

He had read all about the different houses and was sure he would end up in Ravenclaw… yet, there he was, following a group of students down a long winding staircase, through a dark corridor, into the snake pit that was the Slytherin common room.

"Listen well, first years, as I will say this only once" Severus Snape's voice was deep and authoritative. Hadrian had read all about him and knew he was the Head of Slytherin House and a well-respected professor of Potions, which he found very intriguing. On the train, he had been unable to resist cracking open his Potions Textbook and reading ahead nearly seven chapters.

"While you are at this school and under my House, you will conduct yourselves with dignity, confidence, ambition and pure common sense. If you encounter a problem, it is my sincere hope that you will attempt to remedy said dispute using your own intellect and cunning… that is after all, why you have most likely been sorted into this… particular house. However… if you find you are unable to resolve a certain issue or obstacle you should find yourself in, you will confide in me first. House loyalty is of the utmost importance. You must look out for the best interest of the House and therefore, the safety and academic diligence of your Slytherin peers is vital to your own success."

Hadrian listened eagerly to his Head of House and took a moment to admire the lavishly furnished common room. The chairs were all constructed of delicately carved wood and cushioned with lush green fabrics. There was a crystal chandelier at the center of the room and a majestic black marble fireplace with silver and green floor pillows strewn about in front of it.

For a brief moment, he felt rather overwhelmed - could this just be one long hallucination or dream? Was he truly here? One minute, he was just a lonely orphan, being punished and laughed at for being "weird" and now, practically over night, he was a wizard attending a prestigious academy, about to learn _real_ magic!

"Oi! You there… what's your name?"

Hadrian suddenly realized that he had been standing in the middle of the room alone, mouth gaping like a dead fish. Professor Snape had finished his speech and retreated long ago to the sanctity of his own rooms.

"You deaf? I said- what's your name?"

"Oh… um… Hadrian… Hadrian Hitchens"

"You're in that last room down the hall- at left" The prefect spat in a harsh tone and gave Hadrian a quick look over before physically nudging the younger boy down the hallway. "Well… go on then…"

Hadrian stumbled down the hall and stood in the doorway of his room for what felt like ages. The four – poster canopied beds were arranged in a half circle around a cast iron hearth at the center of the room. Like the common room, the beds were dressed with copious amounts of jade and silver fabric. The beds themselves were ornately carved out of what appeared to be ebony wood and each bedpost depicted a different type of serpent coiled around it. At the foot of each bed there was placed a black marble footlocker. Hadrian scanned the room for his trunk, which upon finding it; now appeared quite shabby indeed next to the other boys' luggage. But nothing could have brought the young orphan down at this moment. He strode over to his trunk and began unpacking what few possessions he had.

The other boys took note of how worn his trunk was and it was obvious by the tattered sleeves of his robes that they were second hand.

"Hitchens- eh?" A haughty boy with platinum hair scoffed, reading the worn and somewhat rusted nameplate on Hadrian's luggage case. "I've not heard of your family… have you, Goyle?"

A boy with a thick neck stood up from his bed and walked over, followed closely by a short pudgy kid chewing on a licorice wand.

"Sounds like a _mudblood_ name to me, Draco"

"A what?"

"A mudblood" The blonde boy spat indignantly. "This school's standards have surely dropped if they're letting mudbloods into Slytherin…"

Hadrian watched the three boys walk away and his heart sank a little. What was a "mudblood" anyway? And how could they tell if he in fact was one? He shrugged it off and fell back onto the bed with a great sigh of contentment. He felt for once in his life, as if he had a home... even if he didn't fit in with the other boys in his House, Hadrian was determined to fit into the wizarding world.

* * *

><p>Another term was beginning, another swarm of dunderheads would be filing into his classroom tomorrow and this meant one thing for Severus Snape…another year to contemplate why he had allowed himself to continue living for yet another miserable year. It was not that Severus was prone to self-pity or low self-esteem, in fact he thought very highly of himself as far as his abilities and superior intellect were concerned. But apart from that, Severus rather loathed himself. And let's face it, who <em>didn't<em> loathe Severus Snape? The great bat of the dungeons, the greasy git, the traitor, the ex-deatheater… these were just a few of the labels he had learned to live with. In truth, it didn't bother him as much as one might think. It kept people from approaching him, which meant that he was often left undisturbed to do as he pleased. And it didn't always hurt to have his students fear him.

"Another year" he sighed and stood with a stretch.

A rather large black cat leapt down from the chair beside him and nuzzled his head against the wizard's legs. Severus bent down to give the little beast a light pat and then headed straight for his liquor cabinet.

"Now then," he ran his slender fingers over the many bottles on the shelf before settling upon a nice vintage firewhiskey. He poured himself a generous glass of the amber liquid and settled into his favorite chair by the fireplace.

The cat jumped into his lap and looked up at him with an expectant face.

"Saxon… you know that this is a strictly human beverage." He cracked a small smile and stroked the cat gently behind the ears. His thoughts then turned to Harry Potter.

"Potter" he grimaced.

He well knew what the Headmaster expected of him this year, with regard to the young Potter boy. Severus had been friends at one time with the boy's mother and had been horrendously tormented by his father. He felt a sense of duty towards the boy though he loathed the notion of helping out the spawn of his onetime childhood bully. Still, for the greater good, Severus would do his best to assist the "boy wonder".

Saxon purred and flexed his claws as his master continued to trace little patterns in his black fur. Saxon had been the surly Potion Master's familiar for nearly thirteen years and he was quite accustomed to the "dark haired one" and his brooding ways. Severus had never had a consistent familiar throughout his early years at Hogwarts. But in his final year, he had been out for a stroll through Hogsmeade one Saturday afternoon to run errands for Professor Slughorn and had come across a group of first year Slytherins who were crowded around something in an alley way. Young Severus had pushed through the crowd to see that one of the boys had conjured a snake that was now stalking an emaciated little black kitten that looked barely old enough to see properly, let alone go up against a venomous snake. Severus had rescued the kitten and nursed it to proper health; even going as far as to bottle-feed it… when no one was watching, of course.

Saxon knew him like the backs of his paws and unlike other felines he had encountered around the castle, Saxon had never doubted his master's innocence. He yawned and languidly rolled onto his back, hoping for a belly rub.

"You lazy thing" Severus smirked, but continued to pet him nonetheless. Saxon was his one true companion… the one being on this Earth that Severus felt he could ever sincerely be himself around. The cat reminded him of a time in his life when things were quite difficult, yet somehow... he had been so very happy.

"What do you think she's doing now, old friend?" he took another sip of his drink, and swirled the whiskey around in the glass. Truly, he hated himself for thinking about her but it was always in these quiet moments of reflection that he found himself unable to keep her out of his mind. He closed his eyes and remembered her face the last time he saw her… chiseled cheekbones, wild black hair that tumbled down her slender shoulders like undulating storm clouds, and her smile… faint and barely there at all. But what he missed most of all was her scent. He had tried time after time to recreate it in his lab, amongst his cauldrons and vials… but he could never quite replicate it. Smoldering leaves that had long been dead… fresh dirt and fallen branches, a hint of Indian Night Blooming Jasmine and stones covered in soft moss. Even the most potent Amortentia could never capture her exact scent.

Severus ran a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in seeming frustration. He downed the last of his firewhiskey and drifted off to a blissfully dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Professor Snape cracked his knuckles as his students took their seats. This was the first Potion's class in which he would teach the famous Boy-Who-Lived and he was rather curious to test the young wizard's skills, so as to gage his natural ability.<p>

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," He scanned the room for trouble makers but was silently pleased to find his new students hanging upon his every word. "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses - I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…"

Nearly all eyes were on Snape right now, particularly his eager Slytherins, who clearly worshipped him already. It was at this moment that he noticed Harry Potter, scrawling wildly upon a scroll, his head bowed low over the page. Arrogance… or perhaps… insecurity? Snape wanted to be sure.

"Potter!" he snapped venomously. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Naturally, Harry was unable to answer, having not grown up in the magic world and only being a first year.

The boy answered honestly "I don't know sir" At this moment Hermione Granger's hand shot up and it stayed up for nearly ten minutes as Professor Snape continued to grill poor Harry.

"What's the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Suddenly the Potions Master caught sight of another arm raised in his peripheral vision. The dark haired boy at the very back had confidently raised his hand, albeit with much more reserve than the Granger girl.

"Yes… Hitchens wasn't it?" The boy nodded and Snape raised an eyebrow as he observed the other Slytherin boys begin to whisper spitefully about the creepy boy in the corner.

"Let us see now if we do indeed have dunderheads in both Houses this term…" he spat and strode in heavy steps over to the boy's desk. "Well? Mr. Hitchens… the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"There isn't one, sir"

His answer was indeed correct though Severus was unsure whether or not to take the boy's blatancy as cheek. After a few seconds of deliberation, Professor Snape turned on his heel and returned to the front of his classroom.

"Well done Mr. Hitchens. Five points to Slytherin for coming to class well prepared." The Potions Master suddenly narrowed his eyes on Harry and stalked over to him as if he were wounded prey, "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? Two points from Gryffindor for each question Mr. Potter failed to answer today"

He faced the class, glaring daggers at Harry "Tut tut, Mr. Potter- clearly… fame isn't everything".


	4. That Creepy Slytherin Kid

The first months of school passed quickly and the crisp fall air had cooled to a harsh wintry chill rather early this year. Throughout the stone halls, the suits of armor had been charmed to sing Christmas carols and the Great Hall had been decorated from floor to ceiling in festive garland and bright colored ornaments. Even Hadrian, surly as he was, couldn't help but marvel at the magic of it all.

By now, Hadrian was quite used to the castle and his daily routines at Hogwarts. But he had discovered quickly that his status as an orphan, particularly in Slytherin, was much more of a hindrance than he ever could have imagined. He had also learned more about Wizarding society and just how deep the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin truly ran. Most of the awkward boy's days were spent in the library, the greenhouses or near Black Lake. He tried to limit the amount of time he spent in the common room and even took to avoiding the Great Hall altogether whenever possible. It wasn't that he feared the ridicule he received from nearly every student in every house; Hadrian simply wasn't much of a social creature. He preferred the company of dusty old books to that of, what he perceived to be, immature children who failed to appreciate the opportunity they had been given to learn. Yes, the Hogwarts library was where this young orphan felt the most at home he had ever felt.

Hadrian opened an advanced textbook on potions and began scribbling wildly across a scroll. Potions had quickly become his favorite subject, although he showed tremendous promise in herbology and transfiguration as well.

"Are you going to be long with that book?"

"Perhaps" Hadrian never looked up from the page as he gave his nonchalant reply.

"Well… about how much longer will you be?"

This time the boy was silent, never tearing his eyes away from his work.

"Did you hear me? I said, how much longer will you be?" Hermione Granger was not in a particularly patient mood today. And she began to irritably tap her foot on the floor.

"That's extremely annoying, you know" the boy managed through clenched teeth, still refusing to look up.

"You know- it's very rude not to make eye contact when engaging in conversation with someone… or do they not teach you that in Slytherin?"

Hadrian raised only his eyes to look at the bossy little witch.

"Well," He looked her up and down before burying his nose back in the book. "they must not teach you Gryffindors much about patience, sharing or emotional reserve…"

Hermione blushed furiously at that, and turned to storm off.

"Pull up a chair. I'd be happy to review what I've read and catch you up… then we could continue on from where I'm at now." Hermione stopped in her tracks and approached the boy cautiously, as if she was waiting for some sort of rug pull.

"Well Granger… do you want to share the book or not? I'm not going to wait around all day while you make up your mind. I'm about to start the chapter on everlasting elixirs"

"But that's not on the syllabus until fifth year at least!" Hermione squealed enthusiastically.

"Are you often in the habit of making noises like that?"

The young girl blushed again and silently took a seat beside the Hitchens boy.

After an hour of reviewing the first few chapters, as he had promised, they settled into a quiet study while they read. Time seemed to stop around them as they sat there and Hadrian found it suddenly very difficult to concentrate on the words. In the few months he had been at school, he had never once studied with a partner or held a conversation with any student for more than a few seconds. He had noticed the girl before, particularly after the fiasco at the Halloween feast, involving the troll in the girl's lavatory. He knew she hung around with Potter and Weasley and had heard that she was exceptionally bright. He wondered if perhaps the Granger girl might forge a friendship with him, but quickly pushed the thought from his mind upon realizing how ridiculous it was to care about such impermanent things like friends.

At that moment, Harry and Ron entered the library and spotted Hermione almost instantly.

"What's she doing with that creepy Slytherin kid?" Ron whispered.

"Not sure… maybe she's tutoring him or something" Harry shrugged it off, though he did think it was more than a little odd to see Hermione carrying on with a Slytherin.

"What's his name again?"

"Hitchens, I think…"

"Well… I'm going over there" Ron puffed up his chest

"Alright Ron, if you must- but something tells me Hermione can handle herself just fine" Harry smirked.

But before Ron could reach the studious couple, Draco Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, surrounded the table like a pack of wolves.

"Well well, this is cozy, isn't it?" The blonde wizard beamed. "The two of you are quite the pair, a mudblood and an orphan"

Hermione looked down at the floor, her eyes threatening to spill tears. Hadrian didn't say anything, but stood stiffly and began packing his books into his satchel.

Goyle slapped one of the books out of his hand, and it landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Harry and Ron hurried over to the unfolding scene.

"That's enough Malfoy" Harry glared at him.

"This doesn't concern you, Potter" he spat angrily.

"Hermione's my friend…so, it _does_ concern me"

Ron said nothing but nodded his head and stood shoulder to shoulder with Harry.

"Out of my way Weasley" Draco moved to push Ron but Harry intervened.

"I said…. That's enough Malfoy" Harry was now speaking in a dangerously low tone and began to gingerly fingered the wand in his back pocket.

"Saint Potter", Malfoy bit out, "You better watch how you speak to me"

"Or what?"

The two boys were now locked in a stare. Everyone in the library had practically gathered around to watch the impending fight ensue. Draco drew his wand slowly from his sleeve.

"That will be quite enough, Mr. Potter… Mr. Malfoy" Professor McGonagall emerged from the crowd, followed closely by Professor Snape. "Five points will be taken from each of you for disrupting the library… now then, move along" she quipped and gestured toward the door. "You too, Mr. Weasley…Mr. Goyle… get moving".

The old witch turned to Severus, "Honestly, it seems like these house rivalries get worse every year".

As the professors exited the library, Minerva continued on about the plans for the upcoming winter schedule, but Severus wasn't listening. He was much more focused on the gaunt boy, clutching the Granger girl's hand as they fled the scene down a side hallway.

* * *

><p>The two young students were quite out of breath by the time they reached the edge of the courtyard. Hadrian could tell that Hermione had been crying.<p>

"What good does it do?"

"Wha… what do you mean?" she choked out between quiet sobs.

"Crying…" he mumbled "what good does crying do you?"

Hermione didn't say anything but began to wipe the tears from her face with her sleeve. She had never paid much attention to the Hitchens boy before. He was one of those people that just sort of blended into the background- left unnoticed until someone pointed out his shabby robes or his two sizes too big shoes.

"What's your first name, Hitchens?"

" Hadrian"

The girl expected him to talk more, and when he didn't – she wondered if he was being shy or if he truly didn't have good manners. They stood in awkward silence for a while before Hermione blurted out something that she regretted asking the moment the words left her mouth.

"So- you're an orphan?"

Hadrian didn't say anything, but lowered his gaze to the ground and adjusted his book bag on his shoulder.

"I… I didn't mean for that to sound the way it did… It's just.. I…" She tried to think of a clever way to back out of her obvious faux pas. "You know… Harry's parents are gone as well."

Again, the boy was silent. Hermione worried her bottom lip. She really didn't want to be just another student who picked on him.

"Thanks for sharing the book with me… Hadrian… Maybe we could-"

"I'll be in the greenhouses tomorrow around four o'clock." The boy tucked a loose strand of black hair behind his right ear "I'm testing a theory I have on a small sprig of Devil's Snare"

With that, the boy turned on his heel and disappeared into the castle. It was then that Hermione noticed he had left the book on a stone bench beside her.

* * *

><p>From the cover of a nearby pillar, Severus Snape, watched Miss Granger pick up the book and slowly head back into the castle. He had in fact, observed the entire exchange between his two most promising students and found himself feeling more than a little sorry for the boy. He was instantly reminded of his would-be friendship with Lily Evans. Though he had never had romantic feelings for the Gryffindor girl as some people had supposed, he had truly believed they would be friends for the rest of their lives. This was not the first time that Severus had been reminded of his own youth as he watched the Hitchens boy become acclimated to life at Hogwarts. He saw how the other students picked on him and respected the young man for maintaining so much focus on his academics rather than getting caught up in such petty rivalries. But this latest development with the Granger girl worried him a little. At last, Severus Snape would be forced to admit, he finally had developed a soft spot, albeit a small one, for one of his students.<p>

He shook his head of such thoughts and stalked back to the dungeons. It was useless to get caught up in caring, he reminded himself. The boy was strong minded- surely he could look after himself. Severus then remembered the boy mentioning his experimentation with Devil's Snare. Professor Sprout had mentioned Hadrian's name several times to Severus at dinner the previous night, stating quite confidently that the boy had a natural gift for herbology. He would certainly have to keep his eye on this young Slytherin in the near future.


	5. A Key to Nowhere

Silver moonlight staggered through a tiny barred window and cast luminous shadows along the stone walls of Bellatrix LeStrange's cell at Azkaban Prison. The witch let the moonlight wash over her face, as she craned her neck up toward the tiny opening as best as she could manage. Her hair was filthy and crawling with insects. Her teeth had also been quite neglected in the eleven years that she had been imprisoned there. In fact, anyone who looked upon the frail mess in the cell, would have barely recognized the once strikingly beautiful witch. Though Dementors were known to be the official guards of the prison, there were a few Ministry appointed guards to take care of day-to-day necessities and to monitor the very few communal areas of the prison. Most of those guards had learned the hard way to steer clear of Bellatrix during rounds. When she had first arrived, many of the more self-assured guards had tried to take advantage of her, only to find themselves bitten, scratched, kicked or worse. It wasn't long before she was moved to a wing of the prison reserved for the truly depraved and criminally insane.

Overtime, Bellatrix had convinced everyone around her that she had gone mad… and maybe she had. But it was quiet moments like this, in the dead of night- when the witch could look at things with a certain clarity. She inhaled the cool winter air, closed her eyes and pretended she was flying across the dark sky – free from chains and filth – free from prying eyes and judging glares. In her mind, Bellatrix had always been imprisoned. From the time that she was old enough to use magic, she had been taught every nasty curse in the book and had been encouraged to look down upon half bloods and other "vermin", as her mother had called muggleborns. In fact, one might wonder if Bellatrix had ever had a chance to develop her own opinions at all. Her father was extremely domineering and after he had thrown her little sister, Andromeda, out of the house for marrying a muggle, Bellatrix and her sister Narcissa made great efforts not to "disappoint".

She twirled a single strand of hair around her index finger and carelessly tucked it behind her ear. She thought about the life she might have had. A life devoid of the darkness that now flowed through her veins like some sour, curdled venom. But she knew… she could never earn her freedom for the unforgivable things she had done. And even if she could, how would she face her greatest regret… the one thing she ever thought to be truly unforgivable?

A single tear slid down her gaunt face. She could smell snow on the air and raised her hand up to the tiny opening. A wayward snowflake drifted through the bars and landed gently into the rough palm of her hand. As it melted, the witch let her tears mingle with the icy remnants before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>The grounds of Hogwarts were blanketed with a pristine layer of white snow. The castle always looked the most beautiful after the first snowfall and it was a great way to end the first term.<p>

Students milled about, saying last minute goodbyes, and finishing up their packing for the winter break. Severus Snape went to great effort to make himself scarce around this time, as he dreaded the Headmaster roping him into faculty festivities. He well knew Potter would be staying at Hogwarts, but he tried to put it out of his mind as much as he could. He was looking forward to taking advantage of a little free time, with which he entertained the idea of getting some much needed sleep and possibly cracking open the nice bottle of Ogden's that he been given as an early Christmas present from Lucius Malfoy.

"Severus…" Minerva called down the hallway. The dark wizard stopped and slowly turned to face her. The old witch handed a scroll to Severus, smiled and casually turned to leave.

"What is this?" he barked impatiently.

"It's the list of students from your house who will be staying over the vacation period, of course." She flashed him another smile and trotted down the hall, leaving a very put out Potions Master behind. Not since his days of being a student had he known a single Slytherin to stay at school over the holidays.

Severus quickly unfurled the scroll and was relieved to see there was only one name upon the page. "Mr. Hitchens" he smirked. It was then that Severus remembered hearing that Hadrian Hitchens was an orphan. Severus contemplated for a moment longer before he realized some of the students had stopped to stare at him.

"Well?" he snarled "Haven't you all a train to catch?" And with that, the students scattered like struck marbles and Severus stomped off to his office, his black robes billowing in all their intimidating glory.

* * *

><p>"Remember to take notes, will you?"<p>

Hadrian nodded, rolling his eyes.

"And remember to time the sunlight exposure at each interval"

"Yes yes"

"And don't forget to owl me if anything significant happens, alright?"

"If you recall, Granger… this is _my_ experiment."

The bushy haired witch blushed. "I'm sorry… It's just… well… I need to get going…have a happy Christmas Hadrian!"

And with that, the little witch threw her arms around him. She squeezed him so hard that Hadrian thought his lungs would burst. He waved a sheepish goodbye as she skipped off. The boy felt a tight pang in his chest as he watched her go and chastised himself for not wishing her a happy Christmas in return.

The past few weeks leading up to winter break, had been the best weeks he had ever had. Hermione was, all her bossiness aside, brilliant. They had spent hours studying advanced potions together and experimenting with various plants in the greenhouse. She was very well read and had an appetite for knowledge that rivaled his own. The two of them never ran out of topics to debate over.

Hadrian sighed. He was not ashamed to admit that he would miss Hermione over the break. He certainly wouldn't miss sharing her with Potter and Weasley though, he sneered a little at the thought of them. He hated to admit it, but he found himself becoming a little jealous of the seemingly exclusive trio. Not that he greatly desired to be friends with "Saint Potter", as Malfoy called him or the freckled face under achiever he knew Weasley to be. But, he did wish he and Hermione could be friends in public. Then again… how would he react if she walked up to him at the Slytherin table? Maybe this friendship was doomed from the beginning. Hadrian shook his head. It didn't do anyone a bit of good to dwell on things they had no control over.

He thought about heading down to the Slytherin common room, praying that it was finally empty. He enjoyed being in Slytherin house, and upheld the qualities expected of its students; cunning, intelligence, ambition. But the constant tormenting he received from his housemates was almost unbearable at times and he was looking forward to some quiet time spent by the common room fireplace, with a licorice wand he had nicked from Goyle, and a good book. He had been reading an interesting text on Legilimency, which it was obvious he possessed the predisposition for. And he was anxious to learn more about controlling this particular skill.

"Mr. Hitchens" Professor Snape's baritone voice quickly sobered Hadrian from his daydreaming and he turned to face him at once.

"Yes, Professor…sir?"

"It has come to my attention you are staying for the holiday."

The boy nodded his head.

"As such, I will lay down some rules. House curfew will be observed. House etiquette is to be maintained at all times and I trust it is not asking too much for you to show up for meals in the Great Hall at least once a day?"

At his Professor's last request, Hadrian raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that Professor Snape had noticed his absences of late at meals?

"Of course sir. That won't be a problem."

Severus locked eyes with the boy for a moment longer than he had intended to. He couldn't help but marvel at how this boy, respectful as he was towards Snape, did not seem as easily intimidated by him as the other students. Of course, it wasn't just Severus whom Hadrian looked directly in the eye. Minerva had mentioned several times how the boy unnerved her with his cold, black-eyed stare. Snape suddenly felt inexplicable vulnerable as he stared into Hadrian's eyes.

"Good day, Mr. Hitchens" The Potions Master gave a curt nod and swiftly turned to make his exit.

"Good day, Professor" The boy shoved his hands in his pockets and decided to take a trip up to the Astronomy Tower. He had discovered it within his first week at school and it had become a place of sanctuary for him, second only to the library. The view was incredible from up there and it made him feel quite invincible.

* * *

><p>Upon reaching the top of the tower, Hadrian took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let the wind ruffle his hair and sweep over his face like, what he imagined, a kiss must feel like. Having no memories of being a baby, Hadrian often wondered if his mother or father had ever kissed or held him. At times, he fooled himself into believing made up memories of a family he knew probably never even existed. He thought about Harry Potter. True, his story was a sad one indeed but at least Harry knew what happened to his parents… at least he knew their names… could see their faces. In all of Hadrian's dreams and sketchy memories, his parents never had faces.<p>

He fished around in his pocket for a minute before pulling out the only remnant of a past he had ever had. It was an extremely banged up plastic key chain, by which a single worn key dangled from the chrome ring. The key chain was black and at the centre, were the words: "Black Sabbath". Hadrian had figured out long ago that Black Sabbath was a rock band.

"A muggle band" he groaned. Did this mean he was in fact a "mudblood", like Malfoy had said? This key chain and key had been the only thing the orphanage had given him when he was old enough to understand. He had hoped for a piece of his mother's jewelry or perhaps some memento of his father's, a pair of eyeglasses or a cigarette case… any small indication of what his parents might have been like.

He ran his thumb in a circle along the scratched up plastic. Sometimes he made up places that the key could open. But in the end, it was just a plain old muggle key hanging from a commonplace key chain. It was so painfully ordinary that Hadrian considered flinging it off the Astronomy Tower. But he thought better of it when he remembered that he too was once thought to be "unremarkable" and now... he was in a world of magic.

Perhaps this key would one day reveal it's true nature. Perhaps one day it would unlock the greatest mystery Hadrian would ever know.


	6. Happy Christmas, Professor Snape

All was still.

All was silent as the snow fell down on Hogwarts. It covered everything, like thick cake frosting and fell delicately over the trees like sifted sugar. The windows of the castle, shown like candles against the harsh winter white of the sky. Inside, the house elves had already been awake for hours, preparing a wonderful breakfast for those who remained on Christmas morning. The halls already smelled of maple cured sausage and cinnamon cakes. People stirred in their beds as the sky continued to lighten with the impending sun pushing through the fog.

Harry Potter slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see some sort of clutter at the foot of his bed. He blindly searched for his glasses and could scarcely believe it when he clearly saw a pile of presents!

"Merry Christmas" Ron managed sleepily as Harry scrambled out of his bed.

"You too" said Harry "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"

"What did you expect?" Ron laughed and turned his attention to his own bounty of gifts.

The boys ripped through the packages like a hurricane, and by the end of it, there was sparkly wrapping paper and ribbons everywhere. This was, without question, the best Christmas Harry had ever spent.

* * *

><p>Down in the dungeons of Slytherin, Hadrian rubbed his eyes and reached for his wand in the darkness.<p>

"Lumos"

He searched around for his slippers before climbing into them and heading out to the common room. The fire was already lit but the room felt abandoned. Hadrian sat down on some of the throw pillows by the fireplace and stared into the flames. He had never liked Christmas, but he supposed this was probably his best Christmas ever. Nobody was making fun of him. Nobody was scolding him. And he was in an opulent castle with a four-poster bed rather than a leaky old cell with a shoddy cot.

The boy looked over his shoulder, and when he was sufficiently sure that nobody was watching, he wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed as tight as he could.

"Happy Birthday, Hadrian" he whispered into the dancing flames.

* * *

><p>Severus Snape awoke to his faithful feline friend scratching on the door to his bedroom. He groaned when he realized how early it still was. Only children ever woke up this early on Christmas. He pulled himself up out of bed and into his slippers with a great stretch.<p>

Once he was in his adjoined sitting room, he noticed the few parcels set out by the fireplace. As usual, there was a box of dubious looking chocolates from the Headmaster, a small parcel of baked sweets and cat treats from Hagrid and a green and black knit scarf from Minerva. Madame Pomfrey had also gifted him a leather-bound book entitled "Primal Potions in the Modern Age". Severus scanned through the first few pages and was about to settle into his chair, when he noticed another small package, wrapped up in what appeared to be discarded pieces of last week's Daily Prophet. He picked it up and felt how light it was. There was no note, and for a moment, Severus wondered if he should be handling the suspicious package with more reserve. When he was sure he didn't sense any dark magic at work, he carefully pulled back the paper the reveal a small nondescript box. Just as he was about to open it, Severus caught a very strong scent coming from the parcel.

"Is this?.." Severus held the box closer to his nose. "Nepeta cataria?"

He opened it up and sure enough, there was a good fistful of what was obviously expertly grown, high quality catnip.

"Well Saxon," he smirked as the large cat nuzzled against his legs, "it seems this present is for you" Tucked in the box, beside the catnip, Severus spied a torn bit of parchment paper. It read:

_Happy Christmas Professor Snape, _

_I grew this in herbology class and thought you might find use for it as I know you have a cat. I apologize_

_for the less than perfect wrap job… it was all I could find. I hope your cat enjoys the treat._

_Respectfully,_

_Hadrian Hitchens_

_Slytherin House_

_First Year_

Severus paled a little. Never, in all his years of teaching, had he received a gift from a student. He had to smirk at the wording of the note as well.

"First year" he chuckled lightly. As if the Head of Slytherin House truly wouldn't have known which student he was. Hadrian was steadily becoming his favorite student but this new development disturbed Severus a little. As friendly as the gesture might have been, Severus was not in the habit of being liked by students or thought to be approachable in the least, particularly by the students in his house. He considered it a liability of sorts. Most of the Slytherin student body had Slytherin parents, which meant that many of them had ties to remaining death eaters. It was important that he maintain a certain image of himself as the horrid, cruel professor that deep down, maybe... he truly was.

He sprinkled a generous amount of the catnip on the floor in front of the fireplace. Saxon rushed over and began rolling around on the floor like a clumsy kitten. Severus gave a half smirk and sat down in his favorite chair. He scanned the boy's note to him once more before folding it up and shoving it in his robe pocket. He wrestled with whether or not to make sure that Mr. Hitchens understood that such obvious brown-nosing would not be rewarded in Slytherin. Saxon purred loudly as if to say "Leave the poor boy be". And so… he did… for the time being.

* * *

><p>In the Great Hall, Hadrian pushed the food around on his plate without much enthusiasm. He could feel Harry and Ron staring at him and, remembering that Hermione would be cross with him if she heard he had been rude, did his best to simply avoid them altogether. When he had learned that the two Gryffindors would be staying at Hogwarts for the duration of the Winter break, he was disheartened to say the least. Truthfully, he didn't know either boy well enough to have reason to hate them. But he knew a glare when he saw one and ever since he and Hermione had begun studying together, Weasley hadn't stopped glaring at him.<p>

"Honestly Ron… give it a rest" Harry slurped on his pumpkin juice as his red headed friend continued to stare at the lone Slytherin.

"I just don't understand why Hermione bothers being nice to him"

Harry rolled his eyes and tucked into his breakfast. Harry had hardly said two words to Hadrian in the few months he'd known him and unlike Ron, he had seen no reason to pay the strange boy any mind at all. Their conversation quickly turned to Quidditch and Hadrian seemed to have been forgotten about entirely.

From the head table, Albus Dumbledore beamed at the two lion cubs. It warmed his heart to see young Harry making friends so easily. He chanced a look over at Slytherin table and stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"A miserable child, that one" McGonagall quipped. "Sullen… snarky… and utterly rational in every way imaginable!"

"Now now Minerva… you flatter me" An oily voice dripped over the witch's shoulders and she nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Severus Snape! It is impolite to sneak up on people like that!" The old witch clutched her chest and glared at him, bitterly.

Albus chuckled and stirred his tea.

"And is it not equally impolite to talk about other professors in their seeming absence?" Severus smirked ever so slightly at the witch before taking his seat.

"If you must know… I was referring to one of your Slytherins", she motioned over to Hadrian, who now had his nose buried in a book.

Severus narrowed his eyes on the boy in an effort to see what he was reading and forced away a smile when he realized it was an Advanced Potions textbook.

"Come Now, Minerva… the Hitchens boy is quite skilled… might even give your little princess Granger some competition for highest marks" he scoffed.

"It's true" added Professor Sprout, from the far end of the table. Severus and Minerva both turned to face her at the same time. "That boy is a marvel in the greenhouse! My most promising student of the year, so far" she beamed.

Professor McGonagall said nothing but raised an eyebrow and studied the boy in question. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge him. After all, though he unnerved her, she could not think of one single complaint she had about him in her classroom. In fact, now that she considered it, Hadrian Hitchens was a model student.

"Hitchens…" she pondered aloud. "What sort of a name is that? British certainly… but I've never heard it pass through these halls before"

"The boy's an orphan… I found him at…" Albus stammered a bit before continuing, "Wool's"

The table suddenly went silent. Minerva looked visibly uncomfortable and promptly excused herself from the table, followed shortly after by Poppy and Professor Sprout.

Professor Snape simply stared at the boy with wonder. Who was this skilled young lad? The product of wartime revels, perhaps? His face paled a little at the thought that Hadrian could have been the product of dark intentions.

"He's rather unique… wouldn't you say, Severus?"

Snape turned his focus back to the Headmaster immediately. "If by unique you mean, not a complete dunderhead like the rest of his peers… then yes… I suppose he is" he snapped venomously and began to steep his morning tea. The Headmaster peered at Severus over the rims of his half moon spectacles and his eyes began to shine with that trademark mischievous twinkle he had become so well known for.

"Oh Severus… I read an article just yesterday in the Prophet about some new uses for gurdyroot… what are your thoughts on it?"

Albus watched Severus intently as he began to drone on about the overlooked uses of gurdybark as opposed to the root and the finer points of medicinal alkaloids and the benefits of long steeping. Severus Snape was one of the most complex people Albus ever had the pleasure of knowing, and yet… the old wizard could always find the various chinks in Snape's otherwise impenetrable armor. The Headmaster could tell that something was troubling Severus. Something about the Hitchens boy had him stumped… or intrigued. In all fairness, young Hitchens seemed to have everyone who encountered him… stumped or intrigued. He was so sullen, so surly, so mature in his manner, so dedicated to his studies and so eager to prove he truly belonged at Hogwarts. Albus adjusted his glasses and ran his fingers through his beard a few times. This boy seemed awfully familiar somehow.

"You see, Headmaster, long steeping extracts all the chlorophyll, as well as the vitamins, minerals and other medicinal components of the leaves. Steeping in a closed jar keeps the water-soluble vitamins from escaping in the steam…"

"Severus… why have you never taken a wife?"

For the first time since his school days, Severus Snape blushed furiously. His jaw fell slightly as he stared at the Headmaster with a look of horror and confusion, which soon turned to embarrassment.

"I…" he thought carefully about what to say next. He was overwhelmed and humiliated all at once. So, Snape responded in the only way he knew how when confronted by such feelings… with pure unbridled indignation. "I would like to know when _you_ think _I_ would have had time between finishing school, risking my life, fighting a war, and teaching these pathetic little imps, to get married to some tart?… the idea of it is completely asinine!" And with that, Severus Snape stood stiffly and stormed off in his customary fashion.

Albus watched him go with a strange sense of satisfaction, his eyes twinkling like stars in a clear night sky after a storm. It was then that he felt someone else's eyes on _him_ and turned to see none other than Hadrian Hitchens staring up at him. Albus nodded in the boy's direction and wondered if a trip to the Ministry Hall of Records might be in order.


	7. The Magic Mirror

The greenhouses at Hogwarts were quite a sight to behold, even in the dead of winter. There was always something new to be found growing out of some odd bud or another and Hadrian found that, at times, he preferred the company of plants to people. After leaving the Great Hall, he had stopped into the library for a moment to return a few books. Then, he had set out for the Quidditch Pitch for a bit of fresh air. It was then that he realized he was being followed. An ominous feeling came over him quite suddenly as his adrenaline spiked at the innate feeling of danger on his heels. He had thought to draw his wand, but rationalized that it was probably best not to draw attention to himself, in the event that he was not the target.

Snow crunched underneath his worn boots and as he rounded a stone corridor leading out to one of the less frequented greenhouses, he saw a dark figure stooping low behind some brush and ducking into the thick of the nearby forest. When he had first noticed a presence, he had thought it might be Harry or Ron spying on him, but as it drew closer, he sensed what he could only describe as a dull malevolence. And just as suddenly, it was gone. Hadrian checked over his shoulder twice before entering the greenhouse, just to be sure. He was a cautious boy; he always had been. Living in the orphanage had taught him to be guarded and above all else, resourceful.

The boy tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and muttered a warming charm before removing his tattered winter coat. Again, the boy checked over his shoulder, to ensure his privacy, and when he was certain all was secure, he deactivated the disillusionment charm Hermione had cast over his Devil's Snare cutting. His eyes grew wide when he saw that the plant had doubled in size in just a matter of days and had sprouted several thick stems. He looked over his notes and made a few adjustments before beginning the pruning process. Hadrian had read about Devil's Snare considerably after Professor Sprout had first mentioned it in Herbology class. The plant fascinated him and he had become obsessed with the notion that by creating a hybrid of Devil's Snare that was resistant to the sun, he could potentially use it as an ingredient to strengthen something as simple as a burn salve or perhaps one day, cure something as complicated as vampirism. This was what made Hadrian so very unique. It was never enough to simply read ahead a few chapters, Hadrian wanted to apply his knowledge directly to real life whenever possible.

He stood there, silently pruning his plant for what seemed like hours before he noticed some unusual markings on one of the smaller stems. He examined it closely, all the while keeping an eye on the wicked plant, which threatened to ensnare him the moment he let his guard down. Upon closer inspection, Hadrian realized that he was looking at burn scarring, like you would see etched into flesh. He scribbled a slew of notes and felt his heart racing with confidence. Scarring meant that the stem had in fact survived exposure to sunlight, even if it had been damaged… it was still intact.

He couldn't wait to tell Hermione about this latest development. They had been working together for about a month and in that time, Hadrian had discovered that teamwork wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be. Now, more than ever, he wished Hermione would burst through the greenhouse door, but instead of a bushy haired know-it-all, a cold gust of wind blew the door open with a resounding bang. Hadrian ran over to push it shut and once again that same ominous feeling of menacing evil fell upon him. The boy quietly cast the disillusionment charm, just as Hermione had shown him, and quickly pulled his coat on. There was suddenly a great sense of urgency racing through his veins and he gathered up his notes, cramming them into his satchel.

"Hi-hi-hi-Hitchens…. Th-th-th-that you in there?" A stuttering, shaky voice called from the doorway.

"Professor Quirrell… yes, it's me… Hadrian"

"Bi-bi-bit late to be out here- eh, Hitchens? Bet-bet-better get inside before it gets dark. Wouldn't want Professor Sn-sn-sn-Snape after you" A slightly peculiar smile spread across his thin lips, in the same way that a snake's mouth appears to be a mere slit before it's jaws detach.

"Yes… Professor… of course" Hadrian bowed his head and threw his book bag over his shoulder.

"You know… there are many se-s-s-s- secrets in this castle…"

"Sir?"

"A sm-sm-smart boy like you would have no tr-tr-tr-trouble… unlocking them- eh?"

Hadrian cocked his head to one side, much like a confused puppy. Secrets? It was obvious the castle was mysterious, what with the moving staircases, living portraits and hidden passages… but what secrets could Professor Quirrell be alluding to? It seemed odd to Hadrian that a teacher would attempt to inspire such obvious mischief; after all, one didn't tell an eleven-year-old boy that there were secrets he might be clever enough to discover, and then expect him not to go looking for them.

" T-t-t-tell me, Hitchens… what do you de-de-desire most in this world?"

The boy swallowed a hard lump in his throat and collected his thoughts before attempting to answer what he thought to be an odd question.

"I… I don't know sir… knowledge, I suppose…" he replied weakly.

"Wise…" Professor Quirrell mumbled almost inaudibly.

For some reason, Hadrian began to feel rather intimidated and the sense of dread welled up inside him once again as he inched his way past his Professor.

"I better be getting back to the common room, Sir.. as you said… Professor Snape will be cross with me if I miss curfew"

"Of course... w-w-watch out for Fi-f-filch as well, eh- boy?" he chuckled lightly as he watched Hadrian head out across the Quidditch Pitch… darkness closing in around the boy as the night sky fell upon him like a thick coat clings to one's shoulders.

* * *

><p>The North Sea slapped the outer walls of Azkaban Prison furiously, as the winds picked up like a herd of wild horses- galloping violently across the dark waves. Screams of agony and terror echoed throughout the hallways of the icy fortress. Those who were lucky enough to keep their minds intact, were constantly tormented by the onslaught of depression that came from being surrounded by Dementors on a daily basis.<p>

In his cell, Sirius Black chewed his thumbnail nervously as he tried to maintain his focus. Sweat dripped down his brow, in hot, sticky lines and his heart pounded wildly in his shallow chest. He had become terribly thin while in Azkaban and like his cousin, his face was so etched with pain that he hardly looked a thing like the once dashing rogue he had been in his youth.

Sirius had only one thing on his mind… Harry Potter. He had heard the guards talking about the boy-who-lived returning to the Wizarding World and was bound and determined to escape the nightmare he had been living in for so many years. He stared at the wall, attempting to clear his mind and focus his energy. He suddenly felt a strange yet familiar heightening of his senses. A slight feeling of euphoria crept over him and then… it was gone. He howled in frustration and slammed his already badly bruised fists against the stone wall. After a while, he began to cry in earnest until he was sobbing uncontrollably, doubled over on the cold floor in sorrowful agony.

A few cells over, Bellatrix winced at her cousin's bellowing. She had known for a long time that her cell was near Sirius, but she could never quite tell how close he actually was.

"Sirius… you are a disgrace to the house of Black" she scolded through the darkness. "Pull yourself together, you sniveling infantile wretch". Her voice was quiet but stern and Sirius found it oddly comforting. There had been a time when they were both quite young that the two cousins had been friends. Before they attended Hogwarts, Sirius had actually looked forward to spending time with his cousin. She taught him new spells every time she saw him and was always up for a bit of mischief.

Sirius began to hyperventilate as he tried to speak.

"Stop crying" she said flatly.

He eventually quieted and collapsed once more to the floor from exhaustion. He felt more drained than he had in ages and considered welcoming the Dementor's kiss. Perhaps death really would be his only escape from this horrid place.

"Bella?" he managed barely above a whisper.

She didn't answer him but somehow, Sirius felt that she was still listening.

"I'm so… I'm so very… tired" he whimpered like a sad dog.

"Then sleep, Sirius… sleep"

* * *

><p>After a quick shower, Hadrian decided to relax by the fireplace in the Slytherin common room with a book on ancient runes he had borrowed from a fifth year. He tried to focus on the words, but instead found himself thinking about the secrets Professor Quirrell had enticed him with. It was simply driving him mad. He abandoned his book and stared up at the ceiling. What else was there to discover about the castle? What other wonders could be hidden right under his nose? He fidgeted with a loose piece of hair, wrapping it around his finger and pulling it every which way, before finally tucking it behind his ear. After another few minutes of deliberation, Hadrian stood with resolve and shoved his wand in his back pocket. There was most certainly exploring to be done.<p>

Elsewhere in the castle, Harry Potter was preparing for his own exploration into the restricted section of the library, per Hermione's specific instructions. After a few close calls with both Filch and Snape, Harry had finally made it in and out of the library without getting caught, though he failed to obtain the information he was after in the first place, regarding one Nicholas Flamel. He was rounding a corner when he saw Mrs. Norris heading straight for him, and well knew that Filch wouldn't be too far behind. He noticed a door standing ajar to his left and ducked in, realizing it was his only hope.

Harry removed his cloak and looked around for a hidden passage or another way out. The classroom had obviously not been in use for some time as it was quite empty, apart from a large wardrobe in the corner and an ornately framed full-length mirror, which stood on clawed feet. Unbeknownst to Harry, Hadrian had entered the same seemingly abandoned classroom just moments before, in his own effort to evade detection. From the wardrobe, Hadrian listened to someone move around the room and was surprised when he looked through the large keyhole and spied none other than Harry Potter. He considered letting the other boy know he was there, but decided to remain hidden when he saw Harry approaching the mysterious mirror, as if he was spellbound by what he saw there.

It seemed ages before Harry finally pried himself away from what appeared to Hadrian to be his own reflection, and once he did, the boy's face fell and he looked almost pained to leave the mirror behind as he exited the classroom.

Once Hadrian was sure the other boy had gone, he climbed out of the wardrobe and walked over to the mirror. He wanted to see for himself what was so damned interesting about it, to keep Harry there for so long. As he advanced upon it, the reflective surface began to glow a little and Hadrian gasped when he regarded not only his reflection, but two additional figures on either side of him. The boy drew his wand and whipped around, pointing it violently at the air behind him. When he was sure that he was indeed alone, Hadrian tucked his wand away and turned to face the mirror. On his left, a woman's figure placed a pale hand on his head, smoothing his hair down and tucking a loose piece behind his ear. Her movements were so graceful that Hadrian could almost feel her soft touch. She wore an elegant black dress and her hair also appeared to be quite dark, but as the boy focused on her face, it was as if her features had been smudged, like charcoal across a white page.

"Who are you?" he choked out in a quiet voice.

He looked to his right, where the other figure, who was clearly a man, stood stiffly and placed a hand confidently on his shoulder. The man was tall and slender and appeared to have black hair as well, which hung as Hadrian's did, in limp wisps around his shoulders. Once again, this figure's face was obscured, and the boy looked crestfallen as he peered into the darkened visage. To his shock, as he continued to stare, a pair of piercing black eyes began to emerge from the dark reflection, and a scarf, bearing the Slytherin colors and crest appeared around the man's neck. Hadrian was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"

"Ah, Hadrian- my boy… are you lost?"

Hadrian turned sharply to find himself face to face with the Headmaster.

"I… I'm sorry sir.. Headmaster, sir... I was just…"

"Come now lad, it's perfectly alright to be curious. I see you've discovered the Mirror of Erised" he grinned.

"Erised?"

Dumbledore silently pointed up to the top of the mirror, where Hadrian could clearly make out an inscription.

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_

"Norse language? It certainly doesn't look like Latin…" the boy cocked an eyebrow as he mulled the words over in his head.

The Headmaster regarded the boy with a warm smile. He really was an obstinate young lad, he thought. As he watched him try to work out the inscription, Albus was overcome yet again by how familiar the boy seemed.

"Merlin's beard…" Albus said in a subdued manner as the pieces began to fall into place.

"It's backwards isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon, boy?"

"The inscription sir… it's backwards" Hadrian pointed up at the words with a triumphant smirk. "I show not… your face…. But your… heart's desire" he beamed.

"Quite right, Mr. Hitchens… quite right."

"So… the images… they're not real at all…are they, sir?"

"No, Hadrian… they are a reflection of what the viewer desires most. You see, the happiest person in the whole world would look in the mirror and see a reflection of themselves exactly as they are."

"Oh" Hadrian said sullenly.

"Come now… let's not be so glum, Mr. Hitchens…if you desired nothing extraordinary at the age of eleven, well... you wouldn't be much of an eleven year old at all, would you?"

"I suppose not sir" the boy managed through a clenched jaw, though it was plain he was still upset.

"Best get back to your dormitory now, Hadrian. You wouldn't want to get caught" Dumbledore turned to leave.

"I don't understand Headmaster… You caught me out after curfew… aren't you going to deduct points?"

When the Headmaster did not reply, Hadrian swallowed and decided to take a bold chance. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, might I ask if you ever had another Hitchens at Hogwarts? Perhaps…" he hesitated for a moment, unsure whether or not to continue, "perhaps… an old Slytherin student by that name?"

"No… I cannot say I recall _that_ name" he replied honestly.

"I see…well… thank you, Headmaster… I better be getting off to bed"

"Very well… goodnight Mr. Hitchens"

Albus watched the boy hurry down the hall with a heavy, but hopeful heart. If his hunch was correct, Hadrian was much closer to the answers he sought than he could have possibly imagined. But Albus wanted to be certain.

"Five points to Slytherin for insatiable curiosity" he said quietly to himself.


	8. Snitchens

The second term was well under way and Hadrian had once more settled into his daily routines with ease. He and Hermione had begun to work together in the greenhouse again, which made him happy. But what he had seen in the mirror of Erised over the break troubled him greatly and he found it difficult to push the image out of his mind. Did his parents attend Hogwarts as kids? Could he be a half blood? Was his father a Slytherin? Why else would the reflection be wearing a Slytherin scarf? He _needed_ to know.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes…I'm fine- why?" he snapped, without meaning to.

"You just seem distracted… that's all" Hermione's eyes were so soft and kind in contrast to the cold black ones staring back at her.

"Sorry… I just have a lot on my mind"

It was moments like this that Hermione struggled with whether or not to let Hadrian in on her secret adventures with Harry and Ron. But she figured it was best to keep him out of it, as much of the trio's suspicions about the Philosopher's Stone seemed to be rather focused on Professor Snape at the moment.

"I can't believe how much this thing has grown" she remarked as they pruned the Devil's Snare together.

"I know… it's great- isn't it?" the boy was smiling from ear to ear. Hermione liked it when Hadrian smiled. It wasn't a common occurrence after all, so when he did… it was something she secretly savored.

Truly, their Devil's Snare had grown quite large over the last month and was now almost as tall as Hermione.

"Watch this" Hadrian grabbed a stick and tossed it in the middle of the plant. The springy tendrils began to creep along the stick in an almost seductive manner and within a matter of seconds the stick was bound up so tightly that had it been a human, it would most certainly be dead by now.

"It sure is strong" Hermione gasped.

"Devil's snare, devil's snare- it's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun" he joked.

"Not this one though" Hermione giggled "I can't believe nobody has thought of making it sun resistant before? You're going to be famous!" she smiled.

"_We're _going to be famous" he smirked back at her.

The two students stared at each other for almost a solid two minutes in perfect silence. Friendship, Hadrian thought, was a wonderful thing and now that he knew what it was like to have a true friend, he found it impossible to imagine his life without this bossy little witch in it.

"When do you want to harvest it for the potion?" Hermione blushed, breaking their trance.

"Well… we'll need to start brewing right after we cut as there is no other way to properly preserve it… so...maybe another week or two?"

Hermione nodded in agreement and set about packing up her things. Hadrian watched her for another minute before scribbling down a few more notes. This was the part of the day he hated most of all; when Hermione would pack up and they would go their separate ways at dinner, with hardly a glance in each other's direction the rest of the evening.

"I'll um… see you tomorrow then… in Potions?"

Hadrian nodded and returned to his notes.

"Goodnight Hadrian"

"Night… Granger"

He watched her go and let out a sigh he had been holding in all evening.

* * *

><p>"Today you are to pair up and prepare a burn healing paste. If you all completed the necessary reading assignment… this should be an easy task. However… if you have not, then you will most likely be submitting a roll of parchment explaining how you spent the time you ought to have spent reading the coursework and scrubbing cauldrons this evening… by hand."<p>

Neville Longbottom, who was abhorrent with potions gulped loudly and began to sweat a little. It wasn't that he had come to class ill prepared… the poor boy just simply did not possess an affinity for brewing. This, naturally, wasn't eased any by the fact that Professor Snape terrified him to his very core.

"You have until the end of class. Starting…"

Professor Snape turned sharply on his heel and took a seat at his desk, to begin marking papers.

"…Now" He barked without lifting his eyes from his work.

The students sprung into action immediately. Hermione, who always helped Neville out in class, returned to their station with the necessary ingredients and began preparing the beeswax for boiling.

"Miss Granger… what do you think you're doing?" Again, Professor Snape never took his eyes off his grading.

"I'm… I'm preparing the beeswax, Professor" Hermione looked very confused and mentally ran through the ingredients in her head, just in case she had forgotten something.

"Granger… you will work with Miss Greengrass. Mr. Longbottom will work with Mr. Hitchens today"

"But Professor-"

"Careful Miss Granger… I believe the words you are looking for are 'yes' and 'sir'". He raised his eyes slowly from his desk and his lip twitched into a half-smirk.

Hadrian and Hermione exchanged a puzzled glance but did as they were instructed. Daphne Greengrass seemed more than a little put out at the thought of working with a "mudblood", but at least she was guaranteed an easy pass for the day, as it could not be denied that Granger was the second smartest person in potions class. Neville, on the other hand, looked perfectly horrified to be working alongside Hadrian, who had recently earned a nickname amongst the students. They had taken to calling him "Snitchens", which was not only due to the fact that he resembled the Potions Master, with his long black hair and pale skin, but also because of his reputation for his sharp tongue, rule minding and studious habits.

"Oh…and Longbottom… one more slip up from you and you will be repeating first year potions _next year_"

Neville was pink from embarrassment and nearly shaking with anxiety.

When Professor Snape saw that all was as it should be, he returned to his marking. He was tired of Miss Granger coddling Longbottom and thought it was important to place the boy with someone who would help guide him, but not hold his hand through the process. In his mind, Mr. Hitchens was the perfect student for the job.

"Here Longbottom… you prepare the beeswax and I'll separate the birch sap."

"Um… okay" Neville stammered nervously and carefully began to cut the block of beeswax into smaller cubes.

As Hadrian gathered the rest of the ingredients and got the cauldron boiling, he instructed Neville to drop two olive leaves into the mixture, once it turned orange. He then went into the store room to look for some white lily petals, which wasn't included in the reading, but he had read were traditionally used to treat abscesses and other types of skin ulcers. He thought perhaps he could gain them a bit of extra credit by increasing the potency of the burn healing paste.

Neville was still so nervous that he prematurely dropped the leaves in when the potion had only been yellow for a few minutes. The cauldron began to rattle a little and Professor Snape looked up just in time to see the cauldron erupt in Neville's face. There was yellow sludge everywhere. Hadrian ran over to their station and helped poor Neville to his feet. The entire inside of the cauldron was completely charred and had melted on one side.

"Longbottom" Snape growled as he stalked over to the mess. Hermione gave Hadrian a pleading look while Neville braced himself for the berating he was sure to get from his professor.

"Mr. Longbottom… would you mind telling the class why you are consistently ruining perfectly good cauldrons?"

"I… I don't know sir"

"Speak up" Snape snarled.

"I… I…" he managed a little louder this time "I don't know, sir."

"Tell me, Mr. Longbottom, how many olive leaves did you place in the cauldron?"

"Two sir"

"And what color was the potion when you placed them in the cauldron?"

Neville tried to speak, but he was so panicked, he couldn't get the words to form in his mouth.

"What… color… was… it?"

"Yellow sir," was Hadrian's reply. "I… I told him to place the leaves in the cauldron when the mixture turned yellow… sir"

Hermione's eyes grew wide when she heard Hadrian lie through his teeth to their professor. The only person who looked more stunned was Professor Snape, who suddenly turned around and loomed over Hadrian like some ominous crow.

"I see…" Severus eyed Hermione Granger suspiciously. He knew full well that Hadrian would not have made such an obvious mistake. "And you're sure of this… Mr. Hitchens?"

"Yes sir" the boy stated confidently, never blinking. Draco and some of the other Slytherins began to snicker behind him and Hadrian found himself suddenly feeling very self conscious.

Without another word, Snape strode back to his desk. He drummed his fingers for a moment as the students waited for the slating of Hitchens and Longbottom to continue.

Severus laced his fingers together and in a low and even tone, dismissed the class.

"Mr. Hitchens" he said smoothly, "I will expect that parchment on my desk by this evening, when I will see you in detention at eight o' clock… sharp" he raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes on the boy "Understood?"

"Yes sir" Hadrian nodded.

"Miss Granger… please escort Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing to make sure he is properly cleaned up"

Hermione nodded her head somewhat sheepishly and tended to Neville. As she exited the potions classroom, she mouthed the words "thank you" to Hadrian.

The boy hung his head a little as he cleaned up his station and packed up his book bag. He was unsure why he had taken the fall for Neville, but it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. He chanced one last look at his professor before leaving, only to discover that he had already gone.

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon to you, Professor Dumbledore" A plump woman with a heart shaped face peered at the Headmaster from behind a desk, which was much to large for the tiny room they were currently in.<p>

"Good day, Polly" he smiled warmly.

Polly Primrose was a jolly, thoroughly Scottish, woman who had been working in the Ministry Hall of Records for nearly twenty five years. She was often in the habit of assisting Professor Dumbledore when he called upon her, as she was herself, a Hufflepuff alum.

"What brings you to the Hall of Records today?" She gestured for him to take a seat in front of her.

"I needed to look up a current student, actually. He is an orphan, you see and till now, his life was spent in the muggle world…" he cleared his throat "he's quite gifted… and I wanted to see if there was any chance of uncovering who the lad's parents might have been"

"Oh, I see" Polly adjusted her glasses, which incidentally, were far too small for her wide face and made her eyes look quite close together. "Well… have you got the boy's name? Age? Perhaps a birth date?"

"Of course. Hadrian Hitchens, age eleven as of December 25th of this past year."

"Right, so that's Hitchens…Born December 25th in 1980?" She asked as she jotted the information down on her pad. "Would you like to accompany me to the records room?" she giggled.

Albus nodded in agreement, his eyes twinkling in hopeful anticipation.

* * *

><p>As the hour of his first detention approached, Hadrian began to feel a certain amount of resentment towards Hermione, for influencing him to act so completely out of character. It should be Longbottom heading down to the potions classroom to scrub cauldrons, he grimaced. Then again… it wasn't as if the girl had forced him to do what he did…<p>

"Hey, wait up…" a soft voice whispered from a dark corner.

Hadrian drew his wand but relaxed when Hermione popped her head out from behind a suit or armor nearby.

"What do _you_ want?"

"I just… I wanted to properly thank you for what you did for Neville, I mean… that was _really_ kind… I know it's not your responsibility… I just… well… I just wanted to thank you again" she smiled sincerely and before Hadrian could open his mouth to protest, she lunged at the boy and threw her arms around him in a tight squeeze.

Suddenly all of the umbrage he had felt towards her vanished and, though his body remained quite rigid, he attempted to reciprocate her embrace.

"Just tell Longbottom not to make this a habit… next time, I won't cover for his idiocy… understood?"

Hermione nodded and handed him something that appeared to be wrapped in a napkin. "I didn't see you at dinner… I thought maybe you'd like a custard tart to take with you to detention" she beamed "just make sure Professor Snape doesn't see it"

"Thanks" Hadrian tried to mask his shock. He had never, in the history of his eleven years, been given anything that wasn't out of necessity.

"Well… I better get back to the dorms. Good luck with the cauldrons" And with that, Hermione skipped off, leaving Hadrian to contemplate his custard and the remarkable young witch who had given it to him. Perhaps he would commit random acts of kindness more often, if this was the sort of reward he could expect in the future.

* * *

><p>The Hall of Records at the Ministry was a daunting thing to behold. There were thousands of rows of shelves, which housed thousands of leather bound books. Within these books were the birth and death records of every known wizard or witch in all of Wizarding Britain, dating back to nearly 1000 A.D.<p>

Even Albus Dumbledore, who had been within the records room before, was in awe of its immensity.

"Right this way, Professor" chimed Polly, as she led him to the appropriate shelf where they might find Hadrian's birth records.

"Hmmm, that's quite odd" she adjusted her glasses and ran her finger along the extensive list of names. "There doesn't appear to be anyone by that name born in 1980"

Albus stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Perhaps the orphanage changed his last name?" she suggested.

"May I trouble you to look up the last name by itself?"

"You mean… without a year attached?"

Albus nodded and watched as Polly cast a sorting spell over the books. It took some time but after about ten minutes, one book at the far end of a middle shelf began to glow and levitated over, right into the witch's hands.

"Reperio Hitchens" she pointed her wand at the book and the pages began to flip wildly until the name was found.

"Let's see…oh… well now… this can't be right" she paused.

"Yes? What is it?" Albus craned his neck to get a better look.

"No birth record, but here's a death record from August of 1850 for one Isla Hitchens…" she hesitated for a moment, "née Black"

At this Albus raised his eyebrow and fidgeted again with his beard.

"How interesting" Polly continued as she skimmed over the record. "Seems Isla was one of the first Blacks to be disowned for marrying a muggle by the name of Bob Hitchens."

"Very interesting indeed" the older wizard mused. "Tell me Polly… how does magical birth registration work exactly? If someone were trying to hide the fact that they had given birth, would they be able to?"

"Well.. I wouldn't want to say it's impossible… but..." Polly snorted "It's impossible. All magical babies are registered here at the Ministry upon birth…. They use a charmed quill you see and as far as I know it's been foolproof since it's inception. Although…" She adjusted her glasses yet again, "I suppose if the boy's name was given to him at the orphanage, then it could be a false name… which is why there is no record… if only you knew at least one of the parents' names"

Albus smiled at the jovial witch. "Would you mind performing one last favor? Might you look up any Snapes born in 1980?"

The plump little witch's nose wrinkled up at the mention of that name and she tentatively nodded her head. Once again she found the correct tome and slid her finger down a long list of names until plain as day she found what they had been searching for.

_Name: Hadrian Ophiuchus Snape_

_Born: December 25th, 1980 at 2:22 a.m._

_Birthplace: The Alleyway behind Wool's Orphanage in London_

_Mother: Unknown_

_Father: Severus Tobias Snape_

_Blood Status: Half Blood_

_Current Location: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Hogwarts House: Slytherin_

Polly's face was bright red and she couldn't help but look at Dumbledore with a questioning face. "How could the mother be unknown? Isn't it normally the other way around?" she gawked.

Albus didn't say anything, but instead, he pondered all the facts.

"Is there any chance that these official records have been tampered with?"

"It would be highly unlikely" Polly tapped her index finger against her lip as she considered the possibilities.

"Polly, do you suppose some sort of counter spell could have been thought up to conceal or obscure her identity from the quill?"

"People have tried that in the past, but as far as I know it has never properly worked. You see, the quill is charmed to sense magic, track it and then catalogue it…not unlike how the Ministry detects use of under age magic."

Albus ran his fingers through his beard and thought about Hadrian. He should have known from the beginning that the boy was a Snape… those eyes were unmistakably his father's.

"Perhaps you ought to try visiting his birthplace… it is sort of an unusual place to have a baby- wouldn't you say?" Her tone had suddenly become very serious "Can you imagine… an alleyway… poor girl was probably under age" She glared at Albus, silently judging Snape.

"Now now… Polly, we don't know all the facts yet. And, naturally, I must ask for your confidentiality in this little matter."

"Of course, Professor" She said reverently, bowing her head slightly. "I'll poke around some more and see if I can uncover anything else of use" she chirped sweetly, all judgments set aside.

Albus regarded the birth record again and couldn't help but smile at his favorite student's name emblazoned in gold script next to the word "father".


	9. Tension in Detention

Hadrian arrived at the potions classroom a few minutes early, so he sat down at his desk and began eating the custard tart Hermione had given him. As he chewed and savored the sweetness, his thoughts turned to his professor. He really hadn't wanted to disappoint him and he felt terribly guilty for lying, but surely he could redeem himself tonight, he thought with confidence.

It was at this moment that something pressed firmly against the back of his leg, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. He took a look underneath the desk and was relieved to see it was only Professor Snape's cat, Saxon. The large beastly thing leapt atop the desk and stared at the boy.

"Did you like the catnip?" Hadrian patted him on the head and scratched under his chin.

Saxon enjoyed the affections of the "small dark-haired one" and inched a little closer on his belly… towards the pastry laid out in front of him. Hadrian tore a small piece of the crust off and dipped it in custard.

"Here you go… don't worry- it can be our little secret"

Saxon greedily lapped up the creamy custard and nearly took off one of Hadrian's fingers when he snapped up the crust. The boy gave a small smile and traced little circles in the cat's black fur.

"Can you keep another secret?"

The cat began meticulously washing his face with his paws, but stopped momentarily as if to say "go ahead, boy"… and so he did.

"I have a best friend," he whispered "Her name is Hermione Granger…"

As the boy droned on about the "exceptionally intelligent" little Gryffindor, Saxon rolled onto his back in indifference. He knew this name… Granger… she belonged to the orange kneazle he had seen strutting about the castle as if he were a_ real_ lion. Saxon knew all the cats at Hogwarts. Mrs. Norris was the only one he got along with though. She had extensive knowledge of the castle and always allowed Saxon to join her on her midnight patrols through the halls. But the orange kneazle… he was arrogant… and much too…orange.

The door flew open and slapped the wall with a furious bang. Saxon took off like a Hungarian Horntail and even Hadrian was startled by his professor's entrance.

"Good evening Professor"

Severus said nothing in response but strode up to his desk and began marking papers.

"The cauldrons are waiting for you over there" he casually pointed to the left side of the room where the dirty pots were stacked upon one another so high, they nearly reached the ceiling.

Hadrian took off his robe and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater, which Severus regarded out of the corner of his eye, was quite shabby indeed. The boy set to work at once, scrubbing and polishing and it didn't take long before he had made a nice dent in the pile of cauldrons.

Snape watched him closely as he worked. The boy might as well have carried a sign around his neck that said "social outcast", he mused. His pants were two inches too short, his shoes two sizes too big, his hair looked as though it had not seen a comb in weeks and that sweater was not only falling apart at the seams, but it was clearly meant to be worn by a rotund gentleman; not a skinny eleven year old misfit.

"Mr. Hitchens, I should like to see the parchment I requested"

Now came the part that Hadrian had been both looking forward to and dreading at the same time. The boy shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly approached Professor Snape's very intimidating desk.

"I didn't do it, sir"

Severus Snape had never been more shocked by a single student in one day than he had been by Hadrian today.

"Tell me, Mr. Hitchens, this arrogance you've developed… is this a result of your newfound kinship with Potter's girlfriend?"

"She's not his…" Hadrian bit his tongue. He really didn't want to bring Hermione into this if he could avoid it. "I just… the truth is, sir… I didn't feel it was a proper use of my time to write an essay explaining what I was doing instead of my homework… because I _did _do the assignment. I also thought it would be a waste of your time to read it-"

"How I spend my time… is not your concern, nor is it for you to decide what would or would not be a waste of it…Mr. Hitchens"

There was a long pause as the two stared blankly at each other…. each one refusing to be the first to break away.

_Let me brew the paste for you now and you'll see that I can do it. _

Severus narrowed his eyes on the boy like a hungry wolf about to strike at wounded prey. How did this boy have the nerve to use legilimency on a teacher? Futehrmore, how did he know how to project his thoughts so clearly in the first place?

_Why should I give you a second chance at the burn paste?_

_Because I'm the best student in the class._

The two were again locked in a silent stare for nearly a minute. Severus could not believe the boy's audacity… but then something struck him… perhaps Hitchens was right. Perhaps this was not bravado, but rather… confidence.

"Very well, Hitchens…" Severus crossed the room and grabbed an hourglass. "You will have one hour to complete the burn healing paste"

Hadrian was very relieved, he knew he could successfully brew the potion and even improve upon it with the lily petals, like he had originally planned.

"You may begin…"

Hadrian waited with bated breath. And just then, Severus did something that would forever shape the type of potions student Hadrian would become from this point on. He rolled up his right sleeve to the elbow and pressed his wand into the pale flesh.

"…Now" he winced only slightly as the skin began to bubble up and split.

Hadrian looked on in horror as his professor burned his own arm.

"Better get started, Mr. Hitchens…" He turned the hourglass over with his other hand. "And it better be flawless" he growled.

Any average boy would have either broken down in tears from the pressure or fainted right there from the smell of burning flesh. But Hadrian was clearly not so average. He quickly pulled the ingredients from the store room, set up his cauldron and got to work preparing the base for the potion.

Severus sat down behind his desk and once again, watched the young wizard closely as he completed each task… flawlessly.

Hadrian tried his best not to focus on his professor's arm or the piercing eyes he felt on him. He ran through the steps in his head meticulously and was quite relieved for a short break when it was time to let it simmer for ten minutes.

As he sat there, Hadrian concentrated on looking anywhere but at Professor Snape, for he knew it would only serve to distract him. Instead, the boy sat in perfect silence, staring into the bubbling cauldron.

His hair had become plastered to the sides of his face and Severus was tempted to suggest he tie it back, as _he_ did when brewing, but refrained, reasoning that the boy had to discover his own routines. Hadrian leaned over the cauldron, stirring two times counter clockwise, and then sat back down to observe the gentle simmering liquid within. It was quite clear that the boy possessed a gift and as Severus watched him he was reminded of his very first potions class at Hogwarts and the very first time he realized what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Hadrian strained the remaining bits of horsetail flower from the mixture and then began chopping up the white lily petals. He chanced a quick look at Snape, who he could plainly see was straining his eyes to see exactly what Hadrian was preparing. A slight smile crept over his lips as he dropped the petals into the cauldron and a gentle orange glow clung to the heavenly fumes.

He poured the potion into a glass pot and set it on a cooling rack with a self assured grin on his gaunt little face. A loose strand of black hair had fallen in front of his eyes, and Hadrian, as he always did out of habit, twisted it around his index finger for a moment before absentmindedly tucking it behind his ear. He looked over at his professor for approval of his work and was surprised to see Snape staring back at him with a look of what could only be described as revulsion.

"Hitchens… you may go" he spat coldly.

"But sir… the burn paste…I-"

"Get … out" he ground out between clenched teeth.

Hadrian gathered his things and hurried to the door, a look of confusion plastered to his face. As he left the room, Professor Snape exhaled roughly and flexed his badly burned arm. In retrospect he felt a little guilty about hollering at the boy… it wasn't his fault after all. Severus only had his memory to blame. The memory of a girl he had once looked at and saw an eternity in her dark, heavy-lidded eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>JANUARY 9th, 1972 - First Year<br>**

Severus Snape was hunched over a cauldron in Professor Slughorn's classroom. It was his birthday, which should have made any eleven year old boy happy. But Severus was miserable. His Christmas holiday had been spent cowering in his room while his parents argued. And now that he was back at Hogwarts, he was hiding from those blasted Gryffindors, Potter and Black.

"Oh… Mr. Snape" Professor Slughorn appeared at the door, "I didn't know you were in here"

"I'll get my things and go, Professor" Severus quickly bit out.

"Nonsense, my boy! You stay right where you are… you are of course welcome to practice anytime….So long as you stay within the parameters we discussed" Slughorn always encouraged young Snape to succeed. He had seen something in Severus that none of the other teachers had … an almost frightening ambitious streak that ran right down to the lad's heart.

"What are you working on then?" Slughorn approached Snape's work station and the boy quite proudly presented his notes. Slughorn's eyes bulged even more than was usual as he studied young Snape's notations. The boy was brewing a hate potion.

"Severus … this is a very dangerous potion you're tampering with and it is certainly not on the first or second year syllabus, which our agreement clearly-"

"Our agreement-" Snape interrupted "was that I was not to attempt potions which were beyond my skill level... Professor"

Slughorn raised his eyebrows at the boy's blatant cheek but then softened.

"Five points to Slytherin for…" he ruffled Snape's stringy hair, much to the boy's displeasure "seizing the day, eh boy?"

"Are you quite finished, sir?" Severus was not a warm child. He didn't care to be touched and rewarded with pats on the back and such, nor did he like being treated like some stray dog.

"Err… yes… indeed" Slughorn wiped his hand absentmindedly on his robes "Just swear to me that you won't be using it on any of those boys from Gryffindor… I know they give you a hard time, Severus… but I know you can outwit them, eh boy?" He smiled.

Snape simply nodded. He had no intention of using the potion on any of the Gryffindor _boys_, he smirked to himself. This particular potion was intended for Lily Evans to consume. She hadn't been paying any attention to Severus at all since they had returned from Christmas holidays and he hated to see her spending all her time hanging around Potter and Black.

It wasn't as if Severus had romantic thoughts about the Evans girl, he simply liked talking with her and found that they had much in common. Though he had been looking forward to being in Slytherin, he was not having an easy time making friends because of his less than pure blood status and his altogether antisocial behavior. Whenever Severus decided he liked something, or in this case someone, he committed himself to it entirely and became extremely possessive of it... and this is how it was with Evans. He wanted their friendship to be exclusive. So, he would make Lily hate her own housemates.

A steady knock came upon the door and it started the boy a little.

"Ah…. That'll be Miss Black" Professor Slughorn said excitedly. "Come in, child!" he called to the door. Slughorn was extremely pleased to have so many students from such a prestigious family under his tutelage this year.

Severus regarded the girl out of the corner of his eye and his palms began to itch a little. Severus had been infatuated with her since he first laid eyes on her at the Hogwart's Welcoming Feast. After Lily had been sorted into Gryffindor and he into Slytherin, he had been terribly upset at the loss of closeness to his friend, but as soon as he sat down and observed the girl sitting across from him – he had quickly forgotten all about Evans.

Bellatrix Black was a lovely girl, with chiseled features well beyond her years. Her eyes were a dark chocolate brown and her hair fell in perfect black curls down her back. But her temper was known to be fierce and unyielding once it was roused. The girl stormed into the room and didn't even look at Severus as she took her seat.

"Welcome, Miss Black" Professor Slughorn gave the girl a crooked grin and explained that she would be spending her detention crushing snake fangs for tomorrow's assignment. The girl looked annoyed at being there in the first place but did as she was told. Severus wondered what she had done to earn detention, but didn't dare ask. Instead, the young wizard went back to his potion.

After a few minutes of silence, Professor Slughorn stood, announcing he needed to duck out for a while to speak with Madame Pomfrey.

"Severus… you will see to any of Miss Black's needs – won't you?" Before Snape could inhale to protest, their professor had already turned and left. Bellatrix raised a single eyebrow at Snape and then returned to her snake fangs.

"You're crushing them all wrong, you know" Severus never looked up as he criticized her work.

"I didn't think there was a wrong way to… crush… something" She stared daggers at the boy and set her utensils down. "I hate potions class" she griped.

Severus gave a low chuckle.

"I wouldn't advise laughing at me… Snape… I may be rotten at potions, but I'm top of the class in charms… and I wager I know more hexes than a mere half blood" she raised her wand in a threatening manner.

Severus refrained from saying anything else, for fear it would come out all wrong. He tried to concentrate on his potion and pretend as though Bellatrix wasn't there at all. But after another minute, his ears picked up an peculiar sound. The girl was crying softly into her hands.

Severus Snape would never be known for his comforting skills in the future, but the one thing other than potions that this boy had experience with at the tender age of eleven was comforting his mother. His father often left her sobbing in a heap on the kitchen floor after a drunken row, and it was always Severus that helped cheer her afterwards.

With all the courage he could muster, young Snape gathered himself up and walked over to the weeping girl.

"Here" He produced an oddly large and effeminate handkerchief from his inner pocket which bore the initials "E.V.P."

"It's my mum's" Severus ground out through a tightened jaw.

Bellatrix gave a soft smile "It's very pretty" she giggled.

Severus looked embarrassed now and turned on his heel to leave, only to have the little witch grab hold of his arm.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean… " her eyes were still wet with tears "Thank you, Snape" she let go of his arm and bowed her head a little.

"Why are you crying?"

"If I get one more owl sent home about me, my father will be so angry" she whimpered.

"Why are you in detention?"

"I hexed that Potter kid for teasing my friend, Victoria, during Charms"

"What did you do to him?

"I hit him with a sponge knee curse, then a leg locker and topped it all off with a bat-bogey hex"

Severus laughed out loud this time, unable to contain his elation. "That's brilliant!"

Bellatrix was very surprised to see Severus Snape laughing. He had always seemed so surly and unapproachable, but seeing him truly smile… she actually found him to be somewhat charming.

The two Slytherins were both laughing now and Severus could hardly believe that he was in such close proximity to such a beautiful girl and she wasn't ignoring him or suggesting that he wash his hair and shrink his nose. As she laughed, the young witch absentmindedly wrapped a strand of hair around her delicate finger, twirling it every which way before gently tucking it behind her ear. Severus was entranced by this simple movement… the graceful way she moved , the high pitch song of her laughter… she was simply perfect.

"So…" Bellatrix batted her eyelashes slightly, "How _does_ one properly crush snake fangs?"

"I'll show you," Severus suddenly grew quite serious and focused as he showed off his technique. "You see, this much more efficiently crushes them down without compromising their potency later on as a potion ingredient"

Severus looked up at Bellatrix, and when their eyes met, they were locked in a stare for what felt like forever.

"Psst"

Both students turned abruptly to see fellow Slytherin, Rodolphous Lestrange casually leaning in the doorway.

"Come on Bella…While Slughorn's away… " he motioned for her to take his hand.

Rodolphous was a second year, with an athletic build, square jaw and the most perfect blonde hair that never seemed to have a single piece out of place. Severus had decided he didn't like him the moment he met him. He was extremely arrogant and was constantly ordering Bellatrix about, as if he owned her. The remarkable thing was… she usually obeyed him.

Bellatrix looked at Severus once more "I… I need to…"

"Bella… come on." The older boy barked.

"I'll finish the fangs for you" Severus relented after a few seconds.

"Thanks" she smiled at him with such sincerity that Severus almost believed it. "Oh… and Happy Birthday, Snape." She cooed from the doorway.

As he watched her leave with Rodolphous, he felt his heart throb painfully in his chest.


	10. The Devil's Snare Made Me Do It

_So sorry it has been ages since my last update! So many projects right now, I cannot even see straight! ;) _

_As always, I own nothing aside from Hadrian... just playing in J.K's world. :)_

_Please keep in mind, I have had to fiddle around with time frames and some small details in order to construct this story between dear Bella and Snape. Also... I have altered a few things, such as the plant you are about to read about ;) So.. just keep that in mind while reading._

_Now... without further ado..._

* * *

><p>The next few weeks went by quickly, and before Hadrian knew it, he was back in the greenhouse with Hermione, pruning what had become a ludicrously large Devil's Snare plant. Since his bizarre detention with Professor Snape, the boy had taken to raising his hand in class less and tried his best to refrain from eye contact whenever possible. He had noticed that his professor's arm had properly healed and was glad of that. But he couldn't shake the image from his mind… the boiling flesh, bubbling and bursting… the white of his skin melting off the bone, like soft butter.<p>

Hermione silently watched Hadrian as she pruned the unruly plant, which had grown so much, that the braches were as thick around as a broom handle and just as gnarled and heavy. She could tell that something was bothering him. Ever since his detention with Snape, which Hadrian had established he "didn't want to talk about", the boy had been even more withdrawn and ill tempered than usual. She noticed that he had started skipping meals again and was beginning to look a little unhealthily thin.

"Are you okay?"

The boy exhaled harshly through his teeth in irritation. This was the third time in the span of three minutes that the girl had asked him this question. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"For the last time, Hermione… I'm…" he glared at her and lowered his voice "fine".

"It's just… you seem so-"

"I said I'm fine Granger…just…just prune the damn plant and leave me alone" Hadrian turned his back to the witch, with one sharp turn on his heel, and continued his own work in silence.

Hermione returned to her pruning as well and let her mind wander to Harry and Ron. Their friendship was developing rapidly and the little witch felt that it was much easier to be friends with them than it was to be with Hadrian. This was not because of Hadrian's Slytherin status, or because of how he dressed or how brusque he could be at times. Hermione found that it took tremendous effort to be friends with the Hitchens boy … he was complicated. Harry was too, but in an altogether different way. Despite his past, Harry Potter was wonderfully ordinary and loved Quidditch and chocolate frogs as much as the next eleven-year old boy at Hogwarts. Ron… well, Ron was quite uncomplicated in every sense of the word. His two-track mind seemed to alternate between food and Quidditch, though Hermione had to admit that he was proving to be quite a loyal friend as well. But Hadrian was different from any other boy she had met at Hogwarts. He was driven and constantly seemed as though he were on a mission. Whether he was walking about the castle, studying or working in the greenhouse, as they were now, he always seemed so determined. When she was with him, she felt equally motivated to be a better student. Even if it meant the two of them were constantly competing for highest marks, she felt an intellectual kinship with the strange boy that was unequal to anything she felt with Harry or Ron.

Hermione's thoughts became suddenly clouded and she shook her head of her daydreams as her eyes languidly fell to her wrist. A single small branch of Devil's Snare had come loose and was now wrapping tightly around her forearm. Hermione gave a small gasp.

"What's wrong _now_?" Hadrian griped "Did you cut yourse-" The boy was quite alarmed and his eyes broadened with horror as he saw two wild branches of the deadly plant creeping over the girl's shoulders.

"Don't move" he whispered.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but before a single word could escape, the rogue branches viciously seized her throat. Within a matter of seconds, she was engulfed in Devil's Snare.

Hadrian sprung into action immediately.

"Lumos Solem" he shouted, his wand aimed violently at the monstrous plant. "Lumos Solem!" His voice cracked with panic.

The plant quivered a little but would not relinquish. He had done it. He had effectively created a Devil's Snare plant resistant to sunlight. A part of Hadrian beamed with pride that his experiment was obviously a success. But his thoughts quickly returned to the now visibly unconscious witch in its grasp.

"Immobulus!"

The plant stood still at last, but its grip had clearly not eased.

Hadrian quickly scanned the greenhouse and snatched up a large pair of pruning shears. Sweat poured from his brow as he hacked away at the plant, all the while uttering any charms he could think of that might weaken it.

After awhile, he was able to pull Hermione's limp body loose from the gnarled mess of branches.

"Granger!" he barked at the seemingly lifeless girl in his arms. "Granger! Wake up!" The boy's face grew very serious. What had he done? He would have to go for help, which meant he would have to come clean about his secret experiment. Once again, the part of him that had been proud of his achievement, considered taking the time to hide the plant and come up with a clever lie about what had happened to Hermione. He hesitated for perhaps a moment longer than he should have before he took a deep breath, shook his head and cast a weightlessness charm on her.

"I'm sorry" he whispered to the unresponsive girl, as he gathered her up in his small arms and carried her back up to the castle.

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron sat together in the Gryffindor common room, engrossed in a particularly brutal game of Wizard's Chess. When it wasn't his turn, Ron's eyes were fixed on the timepiece atop the fireplace mantle. The boys hadn't seen Hermione all day and Ron was clearly getting more and more concerned as the minutes ticked by.<p>

"I'm sure she's fine, Ron" Harry could sense his friend's anxiety.

"Where do you think she's been all day?" the ginger boy whined.

"You know Hermione… she's probably in the library or with Hitch-" Harry clammed up when Ron shot him a look at the mention of Hadrian's name.

"You think he fancies her or something?"

Harry shrugged "I never really thought about it, I guess".

The boys continued their game in stoic silence until Neville Longbottom burst into the common room, out of breath and quite flushed in the face.

"Neville… what's wrong?"

"Its… its Herm-Hermione…some-some…something's gone all wrong…"

At the mention of Hermione's name, both boys grew visibly worried.

"What do you mean, Neville? What's gone wrong?"

"How much do you want to bet this has something to do with Hitchens?" Ron spat aggressively.

"We don't know that, Ron"

Neville was shaking his head now.

"Neville… take a deep breath," Harry did his best to comfort the stuttering boy.

"Hi-hi-hi-Hitchens…"

"Spit it out, Longbotttom!" Ron thumped Neville roughly on the back.

"He brought Hermione to the Hospital Wing"

Harry and Ron sprung into action at once, racing down the corridors as fast as their legs would carry them.

"I knew it… I knew Hitchens was behind this"

Harry acknowledged that Ron seemed to have been right, but something told him there was more to the story than perhaps appeared, and he wanted to reserve any judgments until they saw Hermione with their own eyes. For now, Harry just wanted to see his friend and make sure that she was in fact, going to be all right.

* * *

><p>"What were you thinking?" Madame Pomfrey's voice was shrill and each word stung Hadrian's ears. "Of course, I've alerted Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall will be on her way now… you're quite lucky that Miss Granger here is still alive, you little fool!" The mediwitch had not been this furious with a student since the days of the notorious Marauders. "She could have lost a limb… she could have died!"<p>

"Now now, Poppy… the important thing is that she didn't; isn't that right, Minerva?" The Headmaster chanced a small smile at the terrified Slytherin.

"I… I'm so-"

"_You_ will not say a word" Professor McGonagall pushed her way past and took a seat on the edge of the cot, grasping Hermione's lifeless little hand in her own. "Not until Professor Snape gets here".

Hadrian swallowed a lump in his throat and watched as Madame Pomfrey bustled about her cupboards, frantically searching for the right remedies. He felt as though there was a snake coiled around his heart- tightening and wrestling it into submission. How could he have let her get hurt? He regretted being so cruel towards her before it happened and chastised himself for letting the plant reach such massive proportions. This was entirely his fault, no matter which way he looked at it; and at this moment, he would have given anything to switch places with the gentle, trusting witch that now lay, nearly lifeless in the hospital bed.

"You wished to see me, Poppy"

"Yes, Severus… I'm afraid one of your students has seriously jeopardized the life of Miss Granger here"

Professor Snape's eyes darted back and forth between the Granger girl and a very sheepish Mr. Hitchens.

"Oh? And what is your evidence?" Snape's voice was low and calm, as if he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"No need for evidence… he's confessed it." she quipped, rushing over to the bed to administer a small amount of nightshade elixir.

"I see you're giving her nightshade…" Severus approached Hermione's bedside. "Am I correct in thinking this had something to do with devil's snare? How is it they came into contact with devil's snare?" The Potions Master shared a meaningful glance with the Headmaster, before turning on his heel to face Madame Pomfrey. "Apparently, Mr. Hitchens has been abusing his greenhouse privileges with some extra curricular activities."

Severus raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at the boy, who he regarded, looked incredibly anxious.

"And why, may I ask, are you not using a sunlight charm to counter the effects?"

"Ask _him_" the mediwitch snapped abruptly.

Professor Snape stalked over to Hadrian and narrowed his eyes on him. "Proceed with your explanation… Mr. Hitchens"

Hadrian bowed his head and took a deep breath before looking up at his professor. This was the first time he had made eye contact with his Head of House since the ill-fated detention, some weeks earlier.

"I… I'm sorry, sir."

"Spare the apologies and explain." Snape's voice was much more gruff now and it sent an unsettling chill up the boy's spine. "Why won't a sunlight charm work, Mr. Hitchens?"

"Because I've made the plant resistant to the sun, sir"

If it had been any other student, Severus would have thrown his head back in laughter at the thought of a first year achieving such a feat, but the evidence was overwhelming…between the Granger girl's unconscious body and the guilty expression clinging to the boy's usually stoic face, it was clear he was telling the truth.

"Granger and I have been working on it for months… and… it just… it just got so big… she was pruning it and then… she just… it…"

"Where is this extraordinary plant?" Severus interrupted.

"In the greenhouse at the far end of the field… past the Quidditch Pitch, sir" he mumbled.

"It will have to be destroyed" McGonagall quipped harshly.

Hadrian worried his bottom lip. Truly, he felt horrible for what had happened to Hermione, but couldn't they see what an achievement for the Potions world this could be? Couldn't they see the potential for greatness in his experiment?

"Let's not be hasty now, Minerva." Severus cooed almost sweetly over the shrew witch's shoulder.

"Don't you go at trying to butter me up, Severus… just look at Miss Granger! That mad plant might have killed her!"

"What Mr. Hitchens has done is perhaps more impressive than you realize, Minerva… consider the practical applications…"

Albus smiled as he listened to Severus explain to Professor McGonagall, the significance of Hadrian's experiment. He watched how the Potions Master beamed with pride at the young boy's success. It was perfectly torturous keeping the secret of Hadrian's true lineage in moments like this, but for the time being Albus had thought it wise to keep it to himself until he had gained more information regarding the boy's mother.

"Let me take a look at the plant and consult with Pomona… at least grant the boy the courtesy of completing his research with proper supervision and… guidance"

"Nice of you to volunteer, Severus" Albus smiled and gave the Potions Master a light pat on the back.

Hadrian could hardly believe what he was hearing. Professor Snape seemed almost… pleased with him.

"Headmaster… I hardly think I should be the one supervising Mr. Hitchens… perhaps Professor Sprout would be-"

"Nonsense, Severus. Certainly the boy will have to be punished in some way or another by serving detention with you… this way, you can kill two birds with one… snare, as they say" he chuckled and turned to leave.

"So that's to be it then? A slap on the wrist?" Minerva protested.

"Oh I almost forgot…thirty points will be taken from Slytherin for creating a killer plant"

Albus glanced over his shoulder. Hadrian looked crestfallen. It was bad enough that he had seriously risked his friend's life, but now he had let his house down… and everyone would know it.

"Twenty points will be _rewarded_ to Slytherin…"

Professor McGonagall's jaw dropped at this.

"… for quick thinking and quite possibly saving another student's life"

"Albus… I really must object!"

"Better to focus on what has in fact been saved, rather than what could have been lost… forever" He locked eyes with Hadrian as he said this and experience told the old wizard that the boy understood…. Though he suspected this would not be the last time he would see Mr. Hitchens in such a predicament. Brilliant people, Albus thought, could be very dull-witted where matters of the heart were concerned… and it was plain, from the boy's worried expression as he watched Hermione's chest rise and fall with shallow breaths, that the boy had grown attached to her, in his own way. He hoped the boy would have better sense than his father ever did.

"Now then… Mr. Hitchens…" Severus drawled, "let's go have a look at this ferocious flora you've created"

The boy followed his Head of House, averting his eyes from Professor McGonagall, as he slinked past.

* * *

><p>The walk down to the greenhouses was a long and silent one. Hadrian was unsure of what to say in this situation. On the one hand, he was feeling ashamed at getting scolded by Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall; not to mention that he was truly worried for Hermione still. But some part of him was thrilled. His heart pounded with excitement that his favorite professor was about to take a look at his prized experiment. In the Hospital wing, Snape had seemed so enthusiastic and so understanding of Hadrian's desire to push the boundaries. But now… Hadrian wasn't sure how Snape truly felt. He was quiet and never once looked at him as they made their way to the Quidditch Pitch. Would he be impressed? Was he angry? Would he have suggestions for improvement? Hadrian wished that he would say something… anything to break the awkward silence between them.<p>

As they crossed the field and approached the door to the final greenhouse, Professor Snape suddenly stopped. He looked up at the cloudy, darkening sky and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Mr. Hitchens…" Though he remained with his back to Hadrian, his voice was strong and piercing; as if he were speaking directly into the boy's very soul.

"What you did today was foolish and shows not only a lack of trust but also a lack of cunning… and this we simply cannot have in Slytherin House."

Hadrian's breath hitched. Was he being kicked out of his House? Would he be expelled? Finally, Snape turned to look at the boy, who by now was wound up so tight that his head might have popped off, had someone stuck him with a pin.

"Why did you not come to me? Surely you will recall my speech to you and your housemates at the start of the school year…"

Hadrian nodded his head.

"So… Mr. Hitchens… why did you not come to me first?"

"I…I don't know, sir" Hadrian bowed his head. The truth was, the thought hadn't even occurred to him… not once. The truth was, he had been too intimidated by his professor's actions during their prior detention, to even look him in the eye of late.

"In the future..." Snape's face, which had softened ever so slightly became darkly serious again, "I will not be so lenient".

"Yes sir" Hadrian nodded sheepishly.

Severus turned on his heel and continued toward the greenhouse. Hadrian exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. The scolding from Professor Snape certainly could have been worse… and for a moment, he wondered if the worst was yet to come.

* * *

><p>"But we need to see Hermione right now!"<p>

"Nonsense! Miss Granger needs rest and she'll certainly not be getting any of that with the pair of you hovering about!" Madame Pomfrey warned in a shrill voice.

"But-"

"There will be no negotiating, Mr. Weasley"

"But-"

"The same goes for you, Mr. Potter"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and sighed "Well, when_ can_ we see her?"

"As soon as she is rested and healed, I will send her back to her dormitory… you may see her then… now, off with you both"

The boys lingered in the doorway before Madame Pomfrey shooed them out and with a single flick, shut the door on them both.

"Well, now what?" Harry shoved his hands into his pockets dejectedly.

Ron didn't say anything for a while and the two boys silently began their trek, back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I'll hex him" Ron suddenly stopped and turned around, leaving Harry at a loss for words on the stairway.

"Ron- wait up…we don't even know if Hitchens had anything to do with it"

The ginger haired boy turned sharply and was now within an inch of Harry's face.

"You heard what Neville said"

"Yes, Ron… but-"

"You can either come with me or stay here but I'm going to find that creep and when I do, I… I… well… I don't know what I'm going to do yet"

Ron's nostrils were flaring and Harry, who had heard that Hadrian was quite accomplished already at hexes and charms, knew that Ron would not fare well against the Slytherin. He finally relented and followed Ron down the hallway. If his friend was destined to possibly make a fool of himself, at least he could be there for moral support. Perhaps, he thought, Ron might have some time to cool down while they searched for Hitchens.

"So- where to?"

"We'll start with the library"

* * *

><p>"This is extraordinary" Severus spoke barely above a whisper as he examined the gigantic Devil's Snare. "And you say that you and Miss Granger have been working on this for some time?"<p>

"Yes sir. A few months now" Hadrian beamed.

"Notes?" He continued probing the plant and never looked at the boy once.

"Yes sir" Hadrian handed his Professor a badly worn journal, which barely closed, it was so jammed full of notations and scrap parchment.

Snape regarded the shoddy journal and an overwhelming excitement came over him… the rush of discovering something new. He flipped through the pages in perfect silence for a few minutes while Hadrian began cleaning up the mess he and Hermione had made in their makeshift workstation. Severus lifted his eyes from the journal cautiously and observed how Hadrian went about cleaning, in the all too familiar Muggle fashion. The boy had been on Snape's mind for weeks now. Since Hadrian's detention, the Potions Master had noticed that the boy had become less enthusiastic about his coursework and even more reclusive than usual. Had it been any other student, he well knew he would have been reprimanded by now for using such unusual methods during their detention, but Hitchens, being an orphan, presumably had no one to fight his battles for him. Severus wondered for a minute if he had been too hard on the boy, but quickly shook the notion from his head, reminding himself that extraordinary people required extraordinary motivation.

"Sir…"

Severus raised only his eyes up from the notes to take in the sight of the rail-thin student before him.

"Will Hermione be alright?"

The Potions Master lowered his eyes back down to the journal, flipping the pages delicately. "I expect she will be just fine, Mr. Hitchens"

Hadrian continued to clean up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear as he bent over to collect some dropped vials from the floor.

Severus knew he ought to reassure the boy more ardently, but felt somehow that Hadrian needed to be a little apprehensive about the Granger girl's recovery… after all, how else would he better learn the harsh reality of 'cause and effect'?

He snapped the journal closed, which made Hadrian jump slightly.

"If you're all finished here, Mr. Hitchens, I will have Filch assist with transferring a few sprigs of the Devil's Snare to my personal lab"

Hadrian looked hopeful at this.

"You understand, of course, that the bulk of the plant will have to be destroyed. However… your thoroughness cannot be denied, and I should think there is enough practical application and notation in your journal to sufficiently base a private study off of. I should like to begin said study with you immediately"

Hadrian was pale with shock.

"You will also be serving evening detentions, twice a week until the end of term" he added, and turned swiftly on his heel to leave.

"Of course…sir" was all Hadrian could stammer out. Once again, he felt a surge of pride that his experiment had been such a success and, though some small part of him was still worried for Hermione, he had confidence that she would be mended. Once the news broke of his great success, and it was revealed he had been granted the privilege of a "private study" with the greatest Potions Master in Great Britain, perhaps the students of Hogwarts would finally acknowledge him. Perhaps, things wouldn't be quite so bad for Hadrian Hitchens, after all.


	11. Under Pressure

Monday morning found the students of Hogwarts busying themselves with last minute homework and a hurried breakfast in the Great Hall. Hadrian had avoided meals all weekend, his stomach in anxious knots, awaiting word on Hermione's condition. But hunger had finally gotten the best of him and he sheepishly hurried past a group of whispering Gryffindors and took a seat, alone, at the Slytherin table. He nibbled a bit of dry toast and sipped his tea slowly, as he scanned the hall for any sign of Hermione's bushy mane.

Albus Dumbledore watched Hadrian quite intently for a moment or two. He so looked like young Severus, his limp hair, hanging about his sallow face with a permanent look of pessimism hanging about his thin slit of a mouth. But there was something noble in his brow… some inexplicably striking feature that made the Hitchens boy rather charming. Though he had inherited Severus' long nose, it was not nearly as large or hooked… but slightly more upturned. He had never known Severus to be involved with any women, though he had speculated that the wizard might have had a fondness for Lily Evans at one time. Albus began to wonder if Hadrian's mother might have been a muggle. Perhaps Severus had kept a secret girlfriend in the dark about his life in the Wizarding World. He supposed it was possible that, at some point in time, Severus could have donated his DNA to one of those muggle fertility centers and never even knew Hadrian's mother…but then why would a woman trying to get pregnant then give up her son? Each scenario the Headmaster concocted for Hadrian's mysterious parentage seemed more ridiculous than the last.

Hadrian was finishing his last sip of tea when the doors of the Great Hall opened to reveal none other than Hermione Granger, flanked by Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Almost instantly Ron shot Hadrian a dirty look when he noticed him catching eyes with Hermione. But the young witch's eyes looked calm and pleading as she strode past. Perhaps, he thought, she would forgive him.

There were many whispers in the Great Hall, as the news of Granger's life threatening encounter had spread like wildfire over the weekend.

"Is it true then?" Draco Malfoy grinned "Is it true you almost killed that little mudblood, Granger?"

Hadrian knew that any Slytherin worth their salt would have jumped at the chance to take credit for nearly killing an "inferior" Gryffindor student. But he knew that deep down inside, Hermione had changed him somewhat. He just couldn't bring himself to use her misfortune to further his own social status.

"I…" Hadrian worried his bottom lip and glanced over at Hermione, who was laughing at something Neville had just said. He wished more than anything, that she was enjoying her breakfast with him.

"I heard that he charmed a Devil's Snare to attack mudbloods", Pansy Parkinson hissed down the table.

"I heard the plant was as tall as Hagrid" whispered Blaise Zabini.

"Well? What happened, Hitchens?" Draco spat.

Hadrian looked around at his own house table and to his surprise, all eyes were on him… little insignificant "creepy" Hadrian Hitchens.

"I…" Hadrian reached into his pocket and gripped the worn little keychain until his knuckles were white. "I'm going to be late for class" was his quick response. He quickly stood, gathered his things and was out the door before anyone could raise an eyebrow to object.

Unfortunately for Hadrian, Ron Weasley had noticed his exit from the Great Hall and had quickly followed. Harry reluctantly trailed after Ron, hoping that his stubborn friend would change his mind, forgive and forget, as it seemed Hermione had.

"Hold it right there, Hitchens" Ron extended his arm, positioning his wand a few feet from Hadrian's forehead.

"What do you want with me, Weasley?" Hadrian replied in an even tone.

For a moment, Ron faltered, unsure of exactly what to say. Small though he was, Hadrian Hitchens could be quite intimidating. He never flinched, even with a wand pointed at his head. His eyes were like pools of thick black tar and Ron looked over his shoulder at Harry, who was also quite dumbstruck.

"Well, Weasley? Hurry it up." He quipped, "I haven't got all day to stand about waiting for you to threaten me… let's hear it then"

Ron very nearly lost his nerve, as he stammered to come up with the right words.

"This is for Hermione," he inelegantly blurted out, "Flipendo!"

"Flipendo Incantato" Hadrian waved his wand defensively and the curse flew right back at Ron, who was thrown several feet, crashing straight into a suit of armor.

Harry ran over to his friend and helped him to his feet. He hoped this would be the end of Ron's "would be vendetta". No such luck. As soon as Ron had caught his breath, he tossed his wand to Harry and lunged at the Slytherin boy, quickly tackling him to the floor. Hadrian managed to get in one good punch, but it was nothing compared to the massive bruises he'd have from being pummeled so furiously by Ron, who was much more used to engaging in boyish scrap fights than Hadrian was.

"Arright… break it up thar, you two" Hagrid hurried over to the boys and pulled Ron off of the now quite shaken student.

"It's him that started it" Ron yelped.

Hadrian said nothing and stood, straightening out his shabby robes, which were now even more rumpled than before.

"And what do we have here?" A silky voice spilled from the shadows.

The boys turned to see Professor Snape emerge from a nearby corridor.

"Just a scrap between the lads, Professor" Hagrid smiled stupidly at Snape, who raised an eyebrow suspiciously when he noticed Hadrian's bloody lip.

"He cursed me!" Ron shouted.

"Professor… it was self defense, I swear it" Hadrian was telling the truth, that much was obvious to Snape, but for the life of him, he could not understand why Hadrian hadn't protected himself better in a physical fight. True, Mr. Weasley was quite a bit bigger than Mr. Hitchens, but why hadn't the boy blocked him with a charm or jinxed him?

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules," Snape said smoothly. "Five points from each of you."

Ron frowned up at Snape, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Be grateful it isn't more, Mr. Weasley…Now, move along"

Hadrian looked up at his Head of house expectantly, "All of you" Snape growled and pushed past Hagrid, his black robes billowing as he stormed down the hallway.

"Alright thar Harry? Ron?" Hagrid put on a happy face, in an effort to break up the tension.

Harry nodded absentmindedly as he watched Hadrian's face harden into a harsh scowl.

"Now… if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be late for class" the Slytherin boy ground out through clenched teeth. Neither boy said anything to Hadrian as he traipsed past them, wincing a little when he accidently bumped into Harry's shoulder.

* * *

><p>In his cell, Sirius Black paced and panted like…well, a dog. He focused all of his strength on transforming, but every time he felt the slightest familiar twitch of his Animagus form, it somehow escaped him. But he would not give up. For years, Sirius had been too depressed to do much of anything but weep. But the return of Harry Potter to the Wizarding World had invigorated him with new hope and this seemed to equally fuel his stamina. He knew that escape from Azkaban was unheard of, but he figured if he was going to try, it would be best to attempt escape as an animal. Dementors would have a more difficult time understanding his canine emotions, which would make him much more difficult to detect. The fact that he was an unregistered Animagus also worked in his favor. He growled in frustration as he failed yet another attempted transformation.<p>

"Sirius?" A low voice gently called his name, through the cold stone.

Sirius turned abruptly and pressed his ear to the wall. He knew it was his cousin, but she sounded different… more submissive.

"Bellatrix?" he called back quietly "is that you?"

"Yes cousin" she whispered. "Sirius… I'm sick… I can barely stand… I… I don't want to die like this"

Sirius was unsure how to respond. One never knew what to believe where Bellatrix was concerned. Her conniving mind was built for wickedness and yet, she sounded so exhausted… so sincere.

"I can't…" she choked out "I can't do this anymore…"

Was she crying? Sirius had never known his cousin to cry… not once could he recall her showing such depth of emotion.

"I can't do this anymore" She said it over and over, finally falling forward into a heap of quiet tears.

"Bellatrix… I don't know what to say. I… I know how you feel… I know it feels like the pain will never end, like no light will ever show itself so brightly again…but, you have to believe that it will". Sirius waited for a response from his cousin, a maniacal laugh, or a snarky snort… but nothing came. In fact, Sirius heard nothing at all coming from the witch's cell anymore…. No cries, no hitched breath.

"Bellatrix?... Bella? Bella… say something" he became more panicked. "Bella?"

Sirius threw himself against the bars of his cell. "Guard! Guard! We need some help over here! Please… somebody? Anybody! _Please!_"

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking over a stack of papers with a quill in one hand and a mug of cocoa in the other. Fawkes was resting on his golden perch, preening himself. The Sorting Hat was snoring softly upon the bookshelf, and the candles throughout the room gave it a cozy glow that made one want to nestle into one of the fluffy, overstuffed chairs and drift off to a quiet slumber. By all accounts, the Headmaster's office was the perfect picture of peace. The Headmaster sipped his cocoa and turned his attention to the window where he observed the sun setting over the mountains, beyond the Quidditch Pitch. The sky was gloriously colorful, as if a giant in the clouds had been finger-painting a great mural across it – all blues and purples and gold…<p>

"Remarkable" he mused to no one in particular, as he marveled at the vast beauty before him.

A steady series of knocks came upon the oak door.

"Enter, Minerva" he called gently, without turning from the window.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Your knocks are exactly like you… persistent and not without a fine sense of rhythm" he grinned and returned to his desk.

Professor McGonagall gave a slight roll of the eyes and handed him a purple envelope.

"This came for you at dinner…. From Polly Primrose, at the Hall of Records…" The stern old witch eyed Dumbledore suspiciously as he fidgeted with the envelope as if he was slightly apprehensive about opening it.

"_Well_?"

Albus gave Minerva a questioning glance.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

The old wizard smiled and tapped the envelope a few times on his desk.

"Have you ever known Severus to have any… women?"

Professor McGonagall's face was as red as a radish. "W-w-w-women… what ever do you mean, Albus? Severus Snape? … women?"

"Come now, Minerva… after all, he isn't a little boy any more… I simply wondered if he'd ever said anything to you… about… well, about one woman… in particular…perhaps"

Minerva McGonagall had been the closest thing Severus had had to a mother since his real mother died when he was only a boy of thirteen. It had all but broken her heart to see Severus' name dragged through the mud after the bad choices he had made all those years ago, in his youth. In many ways, Minerva had felt as though she had failed the boy, and that perhaps if she had been more stern with James Potter and Sirius Black, things might have turned out differently for Snape.

"No" she shook her head and took a seat "I've hardly ever heard him mention having a friend since his school days… and even then, there weren't many, as you recall – let alone any girl… friends"

"Think, Minerva… there must have been someone he was close to…"

It was as if a ton of bricks had come loose and landed right in Professor McGonagall's lap and as the realization hit her face, she clutched one hand over her heart, resting her gaze on the envelope from the Hall of Records.

"A child?"

Albus nodded reverently.

"My boy… a father?" There was a mix of sadness, shock and pride on the old witch's face, and it brought a quiet smile to the Headmaster's lips.

"Good gracious, does he know?"

Albus shook his head.

"How old?"

"Eleven"

Again, Minerva's face was plastered with shock as the last piece of the puzzle finally fell into its proper place.

"Good heavens…. Mr. Hitchens!"

Albus nodded but said nothing.

"Those eyes… I knew I had seen those eyes before", once again, the witch clutched her heart and then stood, facing the window, staring out at the last glow of the disappearing sun. A few tears slipped down her bony cheeks, as she allowed the reality of it all to settle into her mind.

"And the mother?"

"Unsure… although… with any luck, this letter may be the key to-"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore…you open that letter _this_ instant!"

* * *

><p>Hadrian was trying desperately to focus on his homework, but found it nearly impossible to do so, with nearly every student watching his every move. Over the course of the day, the young wizard had encountered a mixture of revulsion, fear and an odd sense of acceptance from his peers. Certainly, the Gryffindor students, who were very protective of their housemates, called him names and attempted to jinx him whenever possible. Ravenclaw students snubbed him altogether while Hufflepuffs seemed to go out of their way to purposely avoid crossing paths with him. His own housemates however, continually cornered him with their endless questions about his experiments and whether or not he had in fact intentionally tried to kill a Gryffindor student. While Hadrian knew it was nothing to be proud of, he also knew that it was better to be accepted in Slytherin house than outcast, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.<p>

Potions class had been a complete disaster, as the room was full of Slytherins and Gryffindors. Hadrian felt far too much attention was being paid to him. He was so used to blending into the shadowy background, that he didn't quite know how to deal with all the special attention he was now receiving.

Hadrian shrugged it off and decided to pack up his books and head back to his dormitory.

"Hey wait up" A soft voice whispered behind him and Hadrian turned to face the sweet, subtle smile of Hermione Granger; his house enemy, his greatest competitor; his potions partner… his… only friend.

"I heard about what Ron did… I'm… I'm sorry- he's being perfectly ridiculous. I'm fine."

Hadrian said nothing. Not because he was annoyed or impassive, in fact it was quite the opposite. He felt too many emotions to speak; relief, happiness, fear, and of course, guilt.

"Don't pay any attention to Harry and Ron- they're just really protective of me… like brothers or something"

Again, Hadrian was silent and Hermione regarded that he was covered in bruises, which were already beginning to darken on his pale skin.

"I heard about the study you get to do with Professor Snape… I'd love to help out if possible… I mean, that is… if you still want me to… I know it was extremely careless of me- what happened, I mean… I should have been paying more attention-"

As Hadrian listened to Hermione clumsily drone on and on about how her almost dying in the grip of the killer plant had been her fault, he suddenly found himself growing strangely angry with her. How could she take the blame for something that had so clearly been a result of his own lack of caution? Before he knew what he was doing he grabbed the little witch and shook her harshly.

"Don't say things like that… _ever_"

The boy's eyes were glassy but he wouldn't cry. Hermione had never been physically gripped by anyone so abrasively in all her life and it scared her a little.

"What happened was _my _fault" he growled, his grip upon her tightening.

"You're… you're hurting me" Hermione's voice trembled.

"Hitchens…Been looking everywhere for you" Draco Malfoy, followed by his ever present entourage of Slytherin lackeys, sauntered down the corridor, grinning from ear to ear.

"Finishing what you started- eh?"

"I…" Hadrian took in a deep breath and saw the fearful expression etched across Hermione's face. The other Slytherins snickered and hollered out cruel insults at the girl.

"What's the matter, Granger? Haven't read any books about how to have a proper fight?" Pansy jeered.

"Where are your little Gryffindor boyfriends now?" Millicent Bulstrode snorted loudly.

"Well, Hitchens… aren't you going to teach this mudblood her proper place?" scoffed Draco.

To say that Hadrian was feeling overwhelmed, would be a tremendous understatement. It was as if time had stopped. His eyes darted back and forth from Draco, to Hermione to the eager faces of his fellow housemates. He hated the things they were saying to her… his only friend. Then again, he hated the things they said to him… he hated feeling like an outcast, he hated being shoved and laughed at…. He hated being an orphan. And as he stared into Hermione's wide brown eyes he made a decision to hate the way she made him feel. Hadrian, being only a boy, had difficulty understanding what it was that Hermione had made him feel. But it would be plain to anyone who had been privy to their quiet moments alone, that the girl had made him feel… wanted. Feeling wanted can be a wonderful thing, but all Hadrian felt was vulnerable and in this moment, all that mattered to the boy was ridding himself of what he considered… an invitation to be ridiculed even more by the people who were meant to be his peers. Why couldn't she have been in Slytherin? Why did he care? He glanced at the small crowd of students, cheering him on and smiling at him and somehow it seemed to make sense that it was better to feel accepted by a whole team of people than to feel wanted by one… little girl. So Hadrian Hitchens made a choice in a minute, that would ultimately effect him for the rest of his life.

His grip loosened, and as it did, he heard Hermione let out a breath of relief. Her eyelids fluttered a little and though her eyes were poised to cry, they sparkled as if she was about to smile instead.

Hadrian looked into her chocolate brown eyes as if his life depending upon it and without the slightest hesitation… he shoved her to the ground and quickly pulled out his wand.

"Adhaero"

The crowd of Slytherins erupted into a chorus of laughter and cheers. Not only had the brainy mudblood of Gryffindor been physically pushed down to the floor, she was now magically stuck there with a superglue hex.

"I didn't think he actually had it in him" Blaise sneered.

"He's kind of cute…" Pansy whispered to Millicent.

"Nice work, Hitchens" Draco beamed and threw his arm over Hadrian's shoulder, leading him down the corridor.

"Shoudn't I say the countercurse?"

"Why bother?" Draco laughed, "Maybe we'll be lucky and another troll will happen by…"

Reluctantly, Hadrian walked away. All the noise around him; Draco congratulating him, Crabbe and Goyle reenacting the scene… the whoops of laughter echoing off the castle walls… it all faded into the background. All he could hear was Hermione calling for help and the sound of his own breath hitching quietly in his throat. What had he done? Was this truly worth losing what he had with Hermione? Part of him wanted to run back and rescue her and beg profusely for her forgiveness. Before he knew it, Hadrian was back in his dormitory, lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of the ornate canopy.

He closed his eyes and pictured the figures he had seen in the mirror of Erised.

"Help me" It was an inaudible plea, not really intended to be heard by anyone. Nevertheless, he said it over and over again, until he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Bent low over the letter from the Hall of Records, Albus smiled knowingly while Minerva's jaw dropped down like a drawbridge.<p>

"I _never_ would have guessed... I never could have possibly conceived of such a... union!" Professor McGonagall gasped and clutched her chest in sincere shock.

"Oh I don't know, Minerva... it does make a strange sort of sense, when you really think about it" The old wizard beamed.

"I always thought they hated each other... for heaven's sakes, Albus... she's criminally insane!"


	12. Boys Don't Cry

A/N: _Cibos hoc anima - This is Food for the soul_

* * *

><p>"Mrs. LeStrange? Mrs. LeStrange- can you hear me?"<p>

As her eyes gently fluttered open, Bellatrix heard a faint echo in her head… someone was calling for her… but the voice seemed far away, and barely there at all. She closed her eyes again and felt her body become very heavy.

"Mrs. LeStrange… can you hear me? You must open your eyes… Mrs. LeStrange?"

There were whispers around her, ghostly images of people and places that she'd once known. But everything was so quiet there… so still. Again, the echo resounded in her head. It sounded like a child's voice, calling out to her – begging her to follow it.

"Well, let's start the incantation. With any luck, she'll wake soon. _Cibos hoc anima. Cibos hoc anima_..."

Bellatrix walked slowly down a quiet, clean path. Was she dead? Was this limbo?

* * *

><p><strong>APRIL - 1974<strong>

Bellatrix Black had always been the type of girl that could get away with murder, when she felt so inclined. She was beautiful, true… but what many people failed to realize was that there was a cunning intelligence about the girl. In later years, Bellatrix would be remembered as the cruel, single-minded, hag-like creature that small children feared would be lurking in the dark shadows of the night. But as a young girl, Bella was studious, loyal and on occasion, even thoughtful when given the proper opportunity.

Such an opportunity reared it's head one sunny, April afternoon in 1974 – when the birds were nesting and small blue wild flowers were blooming on the verdant hills along the castle walls. In fact, everywhere you looked, new life was sprouting up all around the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And young Bellatrix Black was certainly no exception to this. At thirteen years old, the girl was beyond stunning, with bouncy black curls that raced down her slender back, a smile that sparkled with confidence and a sharp wit that could cut virtually any opponent down within seconds. But shiny, happy people are rarely what they seem. And if anyone could have seen the inner workings of Bellatrix Black on the outside, chances are it would paint a very different picture of the girl, indeed. They would see a girl who was terrified of failing everyone around her, a girl who had hardly ever made a decision that was truly her own to make, a girl that would never see herself the way everyone else saw her… a girl that truly had no clue how on earth to love herself.

"Watch it!" Bellatrix barked as Peter Pettigrew clumsily ran into her shoulder. "Well, well, well… what do we have here?" She grabbed poor Peter by the collar as he ran past and whipped around so that he was face to face with her and Rodolphus Lestrange.

"One lone little lion cub… strayed too far from the den… scurried into the ssssssnake pit...and was never...seen...again." She cackled in the smaller boy's face and shoved him to the ground, where he was tackled and hexed so profusely that when he stood up to run away, Peter had blue hair, bucked teeth and was covered in spots.

"Pathetic" chuckled a tall, slender boy with platinum blonde hair and a terribly well manicured appearance. Lucius Malfoy was a sixth year Slytherin, and was the very picture of perfection. He was wealthy, made good marks in school, came from a prestigious family, had a beautiful pureblood girlfriend who would make an excellent wife one day and was practically regarded as royalty by his housemates.

"I'm bored" Bella sighed, leaning against a tree.

"Well, lucky for you… I happen to know a great cure for… ennui" Rodolphus Lestrange snaked his arms around her waist and pressed his body into hers suggestively. Bellatrix gave him a peck on the cheek and threw her head back in coy laughter. Truly, any girl- Slytherin or not- would have been thrilled to have a boy like Rodolphus pining after them, but Bellatrix could not have been less interested. A part of her wished she could remain a third year forever, for she knew that the closer she got to graduating from Hogwarts, the sooner her wedding day to the handsome, athletic and well-connected Lestrange boy would be. Her sister, Narcissa, who was a sixth year, was already engaged to Lucius Malfoy, and was often in the habit of talking about all the babies they would be having. Just the thought that she would be expected to procreate with Rodolphus, who she considered, his good looks aside, to be a bit of a Neanderthal, was enough to make her want to leap to her death from the Astronomy Tower.

Evan Rosier, who had been quietly reading on the grass, next to Narcissa, suddenly looked up from his book. "Oh- Bella dear… isn't that your boyfriend… just over there?" he pointed to a dark clearing at the edge of the forbidden forest, where a young Severus Snape had emerged with a satchel full of herbs.

"Boyfriend? What are you on about, Rosier?" Rodolphus griped and pulled Bellatrix even tighter. "That git wouldn't know what to do with a hole in the ground, let alone a real, hot-blooded woman"

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and wriggled free. "Give it a rest" She slapped Evan on the back of his head and flopped down onto the grass beside him.

"Oh come on, Bella… the creep undresses you with his eyes every time we have Potions… practically loses all cognitive ability when you're around…quite sweet really" Evan chuckled and returned to his book.

"Ugh… he's coming this way" Narcissa cringed. "Just try not to look at him and maybe he'll get the hint and stop trying to suck up to my Lucius" She gave the blonde wizard her best smile and "come-hither" eyes.

"Now, now, my pet…let's not be too hasty. Snape has his uses." Lucius had a way of smiling that always made it seem as though he knew something you didn't.

As Severus approached the group, he quickly averted his eyes when he saw Rodolphus staring daggers at him. His first year at Hogwarts had been rough, but by second year, most of the Slytherins had left him alone. Severus was good at remaining anonymous, for the most part. Third year had begun in very much the same way, until Lucius Malfoy had taken interest in him…. And more importantly, in his obvious gift for advanced potions and legilimency.

"Severus… won't you join us?" Lucius gestured gingerly to the grass.

"I'm actually…. I'm in a hurry, I'm afraid" he stammered out. "Professor Slughorn will be needing some of these herbs as soon as possible… the potency may be compromised the longer I-"

"Nonsense… simply cast a stasis charm"

"Oh yes… do sit down, Severus… there's a spot right over here between Bella and I" Evan piped in, and nudged her in the ribs, playfully.

"I…I… I really need to get going"

"Listen, Severus, before you go… I wonder if I might have a word with you… privately…"

Severus looked up at the castle and hesitated for a moment, "Now?"

Lucius nodded his head, smiling all the time.

Severus finally relented and followed Lucius down a nearby dirt path.

Rodolphus exchanged a meaningful look with Evan, and this intrigued Bellatrix very much. Boys, she thought, always get to have secret meetings and engage in cloak and dagger politics.

"You know… Cissy and I aren't simple or anything… we know all about the war. So, you needn't be all secretive on our accounts"

Rodolphus, who had been quite affectionate toward Bellatrix up till now suddenly looked very serious and bent down on his knee to grab her chin roughly.

"Don't you be worrying your pretty little head any about that…. Do you understand?" To add insult to injury, he shook her head up and down for her, and practically threw her back when he released her jaw.

Bellatrix said nothing, but glared at him darkly. She loathed being a girl sometimes. In Bella's world, being a girl meant keeping one's mouth shut and worrying not about war or what an uncertain future might bring, but rather what sort of frock one should wear for the occasion.

Lucius and Severus were now walking back towards the group.

"So…. We're clear?"

"Yes" Snape replied in an even tone.

"Good lad… now then… you run along to see old Slughorn, like the model student you are" Lucius grinned.

Severus chanced a look at Bellatrix from behind the black curtain of his hair. She was, to date, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"You heard him… _half-breed_… run along" Rodolphus growled.

Snape adjusted the shoulder strap of his satchel and turned to leave. Before she really realized what she was doing, or for that matter why, Bellatrix leapt up from the grass and sprinted after him.

"Hey Snape… wait up"

"Bella- what are you doing?"

"Oh, leave her be, Lestrange... she's probably just toying with him a bit- you know how she gets" Evan laughed it off, but kept his eyes on Snape's face as Bellatrix approached him. He knew Snape was the stoic sort, but love and red nose often could not be hid.

"I was wondering if maybe you could… help me out with… something" she smiled.

"Um… I could help… yes. I, of course… I can help. How? How, can I help?"

"Don't be so nervous" she giggled and suddenly became deadly serious, "It's really very unbecoming"

"Apologies" he nodded "What can I help you with?"

"It's Potions actually… I wonder if you might have some time to go over tomorrow's exam with me… perhaps later this evening? Say…around six?"

Evan placed his book in his lap and smiled quietly to himself. Somehow, Severus Snape had just become a lot more interesting.

* * *

><p>There was an ominous feeling to the castle that day. It was true that Severus often woke with anxiety, but today he felt exceptionally troubled. And as the day progressed, the feeling of dread deepened. It was quite distracting for the young Slytherin and after his brief encounter with Miss Black, the boy had become flustered and unfocused. Severus loathed feeling this way; as he considered it a liability. A Slytherin, he thought, must never allow anyone to know how clouded their mind has become, least of all with matters of emotion. But how could he not smile at the thought that she wanted him. Above all other young men begging for her undivided attentions, she had requested <em>him<em>. Of course, he knew she could never have feelings for him as he had for her, and it was obvious she was only interested in him as a tutor, but this didn't shake his elation one bit. Nothing could. Severus Snape smiled to himself. The day he never thought would come, had finally arrived and he would let nothing stand in his way… not his own course work, not Rodolphus, not even those detestable Marauders would ruin his chance to bask in the glory of the one girl he considered to be the most perfect girl in all the world.

He quickly delivered the ingredients he had collected for Professor Slughorn, reluctantly accepted his Professor's praise and hurried to the Great Hall to grab a quick dinner before he began preparations for his big study session with Miss Black. Severus went over his mental checklist of what to bring. He had stashed away a nice quill Lucius had let him borrow once and then forgotten about, and of course- he would have to bring along the expensive inkwell Professor Slughorn had let him borrow after his own had shattered during a particularly volatile Potions Exam. He stopped suddenly and looked down at his shabby shoes. Who was he kidding… she would never see him as an equal. He was a half blood. He was ugly. And he was poor.

"Hey- Severus! Wait up…" Lily Evans jogged over to the grim looking boy, with her trademark red hair, swinging behind her shoulders in perfect rhythm with her footsteps.

Severus didn't say anything, but nodded and forced a slim smile. As soon as Lily was within two feet of him, she cocked her head to the side and immediately asked what was wrong. He gave a noncommittal shrug and lowered his eyes to the stone floor.

"Did James and Sirius do something to you? I swear… if they hurt you…"

"I'm fine, Lily" he spat, " I just… I'm…well…"

"Oy! Evans- careful there… don't get too close to Snivellus… might get an eye poked out by his abnormally large nose!" James Potter and Sirius Black were hooting with laughter as they approached the Great Hall, flanked by Remus and Peter.

"Sirius Black… you leave him alone"

"I don't understand why you defend him" the handsome boy chided. "He's a first rate creep."

"He's got more manners than you lot" she sneered.

"Well, Evans…" James piped in "If it's manners you like, allow me" he bowed with all the grace of a mountain troll and pushed open the door to the Great Hall with a dramatic gesture, "Ladies first" He gave Lily a toothy grin as the rest of the Marauders pushed past him.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to Severus, who was still staring at the floor. "Are you sure you're alright, Severus?" she smiled gently when he looked up at her.

"Yes… Lily… I'm fine, go ahead." He scowled at James, as the messy haired menace followed Lily in.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He resolved that he would not let Potter get to him; not today. He had tried to deter Lily from the Potter boy since first year, sensing the boy was trouble. But she had confided in him, at the beginning of this term, that she actually sort of liked James, all of his immature antics aside. Severus shook his head, took a deep breath and pushed open the doors. He couldn't afford to spend anymore brain power thinking about anything else but his study session with Bellatrix.

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore looked on from the High Table, with that certain twinkle in his eye that would be legendary in years to come. He was often in the habit now of studying the Snape boy, ever since second year, when Professor McGonagall had brought him to the Headmaster's attention. She had noticed some curious bruises along the boy's arms when he returned home from winter holiday, and insisted that he be examined by Madame Pomfrey. The mediwitch had reported how violent the boy had become when she attempted to remove his shirt for a closer look. But as Severus Snape was a half blood and his parents resided in the muggle world, there had been very little they could do, even if abuse was suspected.<p>

Albus watched the gaunt boy pour himself a cup of tea, as delicately as an alchemist handles a precious crystal phial. Young Mr. Snape had talent, that was not to be questioned, but many of his professors didn't think much of his chances for long-term success, as his cold demeanor left much to be desired. He knew that the boy got picked on, and had he been any other student, Albus was certain he would have stepped in to intervene by now, but the Headmaster saw something in Severus that nobody else had; something he would not understand the true significance of for many years yet. He saw a survivor. Where others saw arrogance, Albus always saw confidence. When others regarded the boy's friendship with Miss Evans as possessive and creepy, Albus always saw Severus as protective and loyal.

The Headmaster was pulled away from his musings when Lucius Malfoy, followed by his entourage, entered the dining hall. Albus watched the silent exchange of bone chilling glares between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, as they arrogantly strode by and took a seat not far from young Snape. The last of them to sit down was Bellatrix, and for a moment, she caught eyes with Severus and gave him a gentle nod, which he reciprocated by rather stupidly attempting to smile at her. She raised a single eyebrow and scoffed at him a little, rolling her eyes as she began carrying on a conversation with her sister.

Severus gulped his last sip of tea and once again, began running through his mental checklist, which was interrupted by the screeching of several owls as they swooped through the room, dropping parcels and copies of the Prophet's evening edition along the tables. A particularly surly looking owl, that was very clearly missing an eye, clumsily landed in front of Severus and presented him with a stained envelope, that was as dingy looking as he was. It wasn't his birthday… or any other special occasion that he could recall. He wondered if perhaps it was a howler and racked his brain, trying to think if he had done anything mischievous lately that would warrant such a letter from his mother, but nothing came to mind. The Headmaster peered at Snape over the top of his newspaper, but his eyes had lost their twinkle.

Severus tore the envelope open and carelessly unfolded the letter, as if it were any old mundane bit of parchment. Every thought he had of Bellatrix or potions or Hogwarts vanished from his mind, leaving only the cold, hard truth of the words before him.

_Severus,_

_Your mum is dead. Funeral will be in four days. Leatherby White Funeral Home at Spinner's End. Wake will be same day at 8 in the morning._

_Tobias_

He folded up the letter and placed it gently in his pocket. Severus stood a little awkwardly and steadied himself against the table. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to think. He was sure that someone asked if he was alright … but somehow everything around him just disappeared. He was suddenly very aware of the blood rushing through his own head, his heart- beating painfully beneath his pale skin. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to hold her hand just one more time. And when the realization that his mother would never again smooth his hair down in that effortlessly graceful way that she always had, Severus reacted in a way that he could never have anticipated. His thin body convulsed forward and he vomited.

The Great Hall erupted in laughter. The boy's hair was hanging limply in front of his eyes, but he could see their faces… glowing with amusement and total innocence… perhaps they didn't know yet how impermanent their lives really were. Professor McGonagall attempted to quiet down the room and raced over to the boy's side. The witch placed her hand on his shoulder, but Severus tore away violently.

"Don't touch me" he scowled, and calmly turned to leave.

After a time, Dumbledore managed to quiet everyone down, and as the students returned to their meals and idle chatter, Bellatrix glanced down at a copy of the Prophet, laying open on the table next to her. And there, in bold, but tiny, letters at the bottom left hand corner…were the words…

**Prince Family Loses Last of Line.**

**This morning, Eileen Snape née Prince was found dead by her husband, Muggle and mill worker, Tobias Snape, of Spinner's End in London. The muggle coroner reported that she may have suffered what is known as sudden cardiac death, and it is probable she expired while sleeping. She is survived by her mother and father, Lord and Lady Prince of Holyhead in Wales, and her only child, son, Severus Tobias Snape, who is currently attending his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin House. Services will be held on Wednesday, beginning at Eight o'clock in the morning at a muggle funeral home, Leatherby White, in London. Though Eileen Prince had been out of touch with Wizarding society for a great many years, she was a Hogwarts alum, of House Ravenclaw, and will surely be missed by fellow housemates.**

* * *

><p>He didn't know how long he had walked the halls. He didn't know at what point he had wandered outdoors and he certainly hadn't remembered about his six o'clock study session in the library. Severus finally sat down on a bench in one of the less frequently used greenhouses. Should he be crying, he wondered. He wanted to, but something held him back. He pulled the letter out again and read the words over and over, until they were no longer words at all… just a jumbled mess of sadness and inequitable truth. Severus crumpled the letter in a tight fist and shut his eyes. How could it be? How had it happened? He didn't know her to be sickly or weak. Was it an accident? Or… had it been a result of a fight with his father, which had gone too far? His grip around the tattered paper tightened even more as he thought about his father… Tobias. As far back as Severus could remember, the man had never loved him; rather he tolerated him. Tobias was a tall, imposing man- with a thick brow and a hard face. Though Severus looked very much like his mother, he had inherited his father's cold black eyes and of course, his prominent hooked nose.<p>

"You stood me up"

Severus straightened and looked up to see Bellatrix standing beside him, with her hands on her hips and a stern look etched into her perfect face.

"I'm sorry, I...my mother-"

"I know" She hadn't meant to sound so curt in her reply, so she softened somewhat and gestured to the bench. Severus moved over and she settled in next to him, as if she had always belonged right there.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. Bellatrix threw open her satchel and handed a copy of the Prophet to Snape.

"It said she most likely died in her sleep"

Severus read the obituary, and without thinking, angrily tossed the paper to the ground. He stared at his hands for a long time. He had her hands; long and slender fingers, smooth palms and an obvious writer's bump, from where his quill was in the habit of rubbing his skin raw. But his hands looked so small to him right now. His father had monstrous hands that were in the habit of doing monstrous things.

"At least she didn't die in pain"

"She lived _every minute_ of her day in constant pain" He snapped viciously, without really meaning to and regretted doing so instantly.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be" The little witch turned Severus's head to face hers, and stared into his deep, sad eyes, as if she could somehow see the man he would one day become.

"Severus…there is a war on, and before this war is over, half of the people you know will be dead. Your mudblood friend will be dead" Severus opened his mouth to object, but Bellatrix placed a finger over his thin lips. "Most of our classmates will be dead… but you will not be. You will live because you are useful. So, cry now, Severus. Cry for your mother and grieve now, because when this war becomes our war, you won't have room in your soul for such grief anymore."

The two Slytherins stared at each other for a solid minute before Severus shut his eyes and let go of the lump of hatred and misery he had been holding back for so long. Two perfect streams of tears, quietly ran down his sallow cheeks and he felt as though his heart was truly breaking. A small cry escaped his mouth, and turned into harsh, shallow gulps after a moment. Bellatrix found herself awkwardly placing an arm around the crumbling boy, gently rubbing his shoulder in the way she figured a mother might. Her own mother was so cold, that it was a wonder the girl had any capacity for human empathy to speak of.

"Thank you" he choked out through dwindling tears.

"If you _ever_ stand me up again" she stood and smoothed her skirt down, "I shall curse you so profoundly, that I swear, Severus Snape, your grandchildren will inherit it!"

Severus's jaw dropped slightly as a wicked glare passed over the girl's glassy eyes.

"Understood?"

The boy nodded and before he could open his mouth to reply, she had turned on her heel and strutted out the door. Her scent lingered in the air for a long time after she had gone; long dead leaves, fresh dirt, fallen branches, Indian night-blooming jasmine and stones covered in soft moss. Severus Snape made two vows at that very moment. He would never cry again and he would never forget that scent for as long as he lived.

* * *

><p><strong>BACK TO THE PRESENT - SPRING- 1992<strong>

Bellatrix LeStrange thrashed around on the bed she was tied down to. Her eyes flew open as a shrill, primal cry tore itself from her mouth. She was hungry. She was thirsty. She was alive… for the time being, she was alive. Bella savored the act of breathing and as she inhaled a deep, calming breath, she allowed herself think about the boy she hadn't wanted to think about for years.

Hadrian Ophiuchus Snape.

She was alive, and even if she died trying, she resolved that she would die a free woman, and would live to see her son just one more time.


	13. Wishing on Stars

_Been busy... apologies. Anyway, I'm momentarily back ;) _

_Disclaimer: Obviously, this is J.K. Rowling's world... I'm just playing in it ;)_

_A/N: Please remember that I have had to change some dates around to better suit the story I'd like to tell and a few details from POA/OOTP will be drastically different with regard specifically to Bellatrix. And thank you all again for your patience. _

* * *

><p>The end of the school year had arrived at Hogwarts.<p>

Seventh years readied themselves for the world ahead, and sixth years boasted their, soon to be, "top of the food chain" status. First years simply looked forward to one thing… _not_ being first years anymore.

Harry Potter had become a school hero, practically overnight, and, along with Ron, Hermione and, of all people, Neville Longbottom, had been awarded a total of 120 house points, securing Gryffindor the House Cup. Though many students were ignorant of what had gone on, with regard to the Philosopher's Stone, one thing was certain… Harry Potter, who was already something of a household name, now had the attention of the entire faculty as well as some key Aurors who would become much more relevant to him in the future. He was the "boy who lived", the youngest player on the Quidditch team in over 100 years, proud owner of a Nimbus 2000 broom, and now… defender of the school from evil. Harry had never known how wonderful it could feel to have such approval from his professors and peers. In recent months, Hermione and Ron had become like family to the young wizard and he cringed whenever he thought about an entire summer break spent with the Dursleys. For now, Harry was all too happy to bask in the warm glow of the praise he was receiving.

Before those last points had been given out, Slytherin had been slated to win the House Cup and many students- particularly the seventh years, had felt rather cheated out of their hard earned points. Hadrian, who had stopped caring about house points altogether after the "killer plant" incident, could not have cared less about the end of term feast or the house cup. He cared about passing his exams and keeping a low profile. Sadly, his marks had dropped considerably in the last few months and where many teachers had high expectations for him at the start of term, almost all of their focus had shifted to Miss Granger. This suited the boy just fine. He, unlike Potter, had not enjoyed being under the spotlight and had found it much less overwhelming to blend into the background when possible.

He had grown to dislike Harry, just as much as his housemates, but perhaps not for the same reasons.

Hadrian watched Hermione smile and laugh with Harry and something inside the young wizard's heart felt like it would snap. He had never understood why Hermione had not reported him that day he hexed her with the sticking charm. He had anticipated the detention, but in the end, he was never even reprimanded for it. Several times, he had thought to approach her, but every time their eyes met, one of them would shy away almost instantly and she was hardly ever alone- always accompanied by Weasley and Potter. There were just so many things he wanted to say… how sorry he was, how much he missed her, that the more he thought about her and how he treated her, the less he could stand to think about himself.

All in all, Hadrian would end his first year at Hogwarts with average marks and with relatively little notice, very much the same way he began; with one exception. He was no longer the anonymous, ragamuffin who had sheepishly approached the sorting hat that day. Professor McGonagall had taken a special interest in the boy of late, and she pestered the Headmaster constantly about telling Professor Snape the nature of the boy's true parentage. Albus had not thought it the "right time" to let Severus in on his discovery. With the possible return of Voldemort looming overhead and the chaos that always ensued at the end of the school year, he had thought it best to wait for the summer holiday to approach Severus with such a tremendous revelation. Still, he too, had taken an interest in keeping an eye on the boy from a distance. Hadrian so reminded them both of Severus that at times it was almost painful not to publicly point out the obvious comparisons. Albus hoped that when the time came, the Potions Master would forgive him for keeping it a secret for so long.

Professor Snape observed Hadrian, amidst the cheery faces and excited bustle of the other students, and noticed the boy seemed rather depressed. He had been quite disappointed with Hadrian's marks of late and recognized that the boy had stopped putting in the effort, even during their private study sessions. It was as if the boy had simply lost all interest, and all but given up at trying to make friends. He watched Hadrian's eyes moving over the Gryffindor table with disdain until they reached Hermione Granger, and contempt gave way to obvious regret.

Severus had noticed that the two students had stopped speaking to one another, several weeks ago, and at the time, he had thought it a wise choice on Hadrian's part… but looking at the boy's sad expression now, he wondered if perhaps it had not been his choice at all.

* * *

><p>Bellatrix Lestrange stared out the tiny window of her cell, observing the scattered stars and wondering where Hadrian was at that moment. What was he doing? Was he happy? Did he know he was different? Had her attempts to keep him in the muggle world worked? She had never really considered the thought that he might be at Hogwarts. In many ways, the boy was a very obscure idea to her. After all, she had only really held him for a mere hour before leaving him at the steps of Wool's orphanage.<p>

His birth was something she hardly remembered. When she closed her eyes, and tried to recall his infant features, she could just barely see his scrawny, squished up little face. He had soft tufts of black hair atop his head, like a little baby bird. The one thing she remembered perfectly was her son's cry. When he was born, he scarcely cried at all. It wasn't until Bella had placed him in the basket and set it upon the steps that he began to whimper like a wounded puppy. When she turned her back and walked away, the boy had screamed until the door opened. It was the most difficult thing the witch had ever done and that scream haunted her to this day. His voice… his cry. It was the first thing she heard in her head when she opened her eyes in the morning and the very last thing on her mind as she fell asleep every night.

"Do you still cry?" She whispered to a son she probably wouldn't even recognize if she saw him in the street.

A tear slid down her face and then Bellatrix did something she had not done since she was a child. She dropped to her knees and, staring up at the glistening canopy of the night sky, she wished on a star. She wished she could replace the memory of his scream with the sound of his laughter… replace the tear on her cheek with a kiss from the son she had once wished had never been born at all.

* * *

><p>As the evening dragged on, many students had already retreated to their respective dormitories to continue packing and spending their last night in the common room with their friends. Hadrian was one of the only Slytherins to remain in the Great Hall. He stared at the enchanted ceiling for what felt like hours. Soon he would be restricted once more to a tiny room at the orphanage, where there was no magic and no escape from the horrible reality that had been his life up until Hogwarts. He wanted to savor every moment he had left in the castle so that when he found himself too depressed to stand it this summer, he could close his eyes and dream of returning to the one place he felt truly at home.<p>

He had intended to head back to the common room; but somehow he found himself climbing the stairs to the astronomy tower and before long, he was perched on a windowsill like an owl, staring out at the dark sky, littered with stars. He was much too old to wish on stars, but for a split second Hadrian caught himself wanting to believe in an altogether different kind of magic than he had experienced at Hogwarts… he wanted to believe in fate.

He wanted to believe that someone out there wanted him.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved the worn plastic keychain he carried everywhere with him. He rubbed the smooth side with his thumb and traced along the grooves of the key. Gently, he brought the faded plastic up to his lips and kissed it.

He placed his wishes upon this key, rather than the stars. Stars were, after all, not so mysterious… they could be explained by muggle science, they could be charted and analyzed. But this; _this_ keychain was as good as a holy relic to Hadrian… for he well knew it would lead him to his destiny one day…. How could it not? It was the one link to a past he desperately wished he could have had- with a mother and a father… in his wildest musings- he had imagined brothers and sisters… aunts and uncles…. A family.

"Mr. Hitchens… are you aware that it is well past curfew?"

Hadrian almost fell out the window; he was so shocked by Professor Snape's sudden presence.

"I… I'm sorry sir…"

"What are you doing up here, Hitchens?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy and gave him a darkly serious stare.

"I … I just wanted to…"

"You wanted to see it one last time before you leave tomorrow… I know…" Professor Snape seemed to soften a little as he leaned against the stonewall opposite Hadrian. "I remember doing the same thing after my first year"

The boy said nothing and for a few minutes, the two of them just sat there in perfect silence, staring out at the dark clouds passing over the highways of starlight.

"Professor… is your… do you… what's _your_ mother like?"

Severus was more than a little thrown by the boy's question. His first instinct was to berate Hadrian for being impertinent and nosey. But the boy's face held such sadness, that Severus truly could not see any malicious intention behind his solemn eyes.

"My… my mother was…"

At this, Hadrian turned to look his professor in the face, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't realize..."

"It's quite alright, Mr. Hitchens, it was a long time ago." Severus adjusted the cuff of his shirt a little and continued, "She was… a very accomplished witch. She was…" Severus really hadn't anticipated it being this complicated to describe his mother.

"She sounds wonderful." Hadrian, sensing his professor's discomfort, quickly tried to change the subject. "What's on the syllabus for next year, Professor?"

Severus was even more confused now. But, in his own way, he understood how a mind like Hadrian's might work. He distracted himself from pain with his desire to learn.

"I am surprised you're asking me such things, Mr. Hitchens. I had rather thought you were giving up on potions…" He cocked his head a little as he said this. "Considering you only managed to obtain an 'Acceptable' grade on your final potions exam. Your Forgetfulness potion was… lacking"

Hadrian gave a small frown, shrugged his shoulders a little dejectedly and stood up. "Good night, Professor"

Severus stared out at the stars as the boy walked past him.

"We'll be covering swelling solutions fairly soon after the start of term. You'll want to read ahead to about chapter twelve if you truly want to grasp the second year curriculum… Mr. Hitchens"

Hadrian chanced a quick look back at Snape before leaving. For all his faults, the surly potions master was still his favorite teacher at Hogwarts.

Severus watched the night sky for a long time after the boy had left. Hadrian reminded him of himself in many ways and he had quite sincerely grown to care for his well-being. Perhaps, he thought, he could have a talk with the Headmaster about placing Mr. Hitchens with a proper wizarding family. At least, then the boy would feel some sense of acceptance. Severus knew all too well the prejudice of muggles and he didn't like to think of a young wizard with such tremendous potential, wasting away his talents all summer amongst people who would never understand him.

He turned to leave, but something caught his attention on the windowsill where Hadrian had been sitting. He bent over to inspect what appeared to be a key, and his breath hitched in his throat when he examined the keychain more closely.

"_How…_" His heart beat wildly in his chest. How was this possible? Where had the key come from? He whipped around, looking for any sign of movement, but there was no one there.

"Bella?" he whispered it to the wind and gave another quick look around the tower, before sitting on the steps. He held the key in his hand and regarded how worn smooth the plastic keychain had become. He remembered when he gave Bellatrix the key to his home at Spinner's End. She had thrown her head back, laughing at his naïve notions of "saving her".

"_Don't you know how this story ends, Severus?" She had looked at him with a smile she forced her mouth to make. "I am not a princess and you are not a knight…I am getting married tomorrow"_

He had begged her to stay with him that night. "Whenever you need me… You will _always_ have a place here" He held the key tightly in his fist. There was no mistaking it was _his_ key… he remembered Bella's confusion over the keychain and this brought a momentary smile to his face.

"Black Sabbath?" she had questioned, "It seems odd that someone would publicize their dark sacrament so… flippantly"

"It's a band"

"It looks more like a keychain to me"

"No… it is a keychain… but ... Black Sabbath… it's not literal… it's a muggle rock band."

After several blank stares, Severus had finally had to pull out his modest record collection to explain it to her.

He shook his head and examined the key once again. What on earth was it doing in the Astronomy Tower? And then it dawned on him… Hadrian. Perhaps it had fallen out of the boy's pocket…. which would mean…

Severus stood quickly and practically ran to the dungeons, perfectly oblivious to the fact that there were a number of seventh year students out of their rooms. He needed a drink and he needed it now.

After two and a half glasses of knotgrass mead, Severus had somewhat calmed his nerves but his mind continued to race, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Part of him wanted to wake Hadrian up and demand an answer as to where he had procured the key from. And still, another part of him tried to bury the possibility that it was anything more than a bizarre coincidence. After all, how could it be anything more than that?

* * *

><p>Hadrian couldn't sleep. He fidgeted in his bed for hours, listening to his roommates breathing and the quiet crackle of the fire, in the common room. He could hear Blaise Zabini's cat purring loudly and Crabbe's toad hopping heavily across the stone floor. It was times such as this that Hadrian wished he had the means to buy a familiar of his own… even an animal companion was better than no companion at all.<p>

He thought about what Professor Snape had said about barely passing his exam and it gave him a tremendous amount of anxiety. He hadn't truly meant to let his grades drop so profoundly, he just hadn't been terribly motivated of late. Hadrian chastised himself for being so sensitive. It didn't do anyone any good to dwell on things they could never change, and perhaps his friendship with Granger was one such thing that would forever be unsalvageable. The sooner he accepted that, he thought, the better.

He tried everything to calm his racing mind but nothing helped. He crawled out of bed and searched for his trousers, which he had folded and set upon the footlocker. He rummaged through the pockets and when he didn't find his prized key, he turned his school robes inside out, in a frenzy.

It was gone. The one thing he treasured, the one thing his parents had given him apart from his very life. He felt that the whole world had crumbled beneath him and his chest grew painfully tight. Hadrian steadied himself against the bed and attempted to calm his racing heart. He was panicking. And the more he panicked, the less he could breathe. After about twenty minutes, the attack subsided and the pain dissolved to an overwhelming sadness. He began mentally retracing his steps and concluded it must have fallen out of his pocket somewhere between the astronomy tower and the dungeons. In an instant, he jumped to his feet and went searching for it.

After nearly two hours, Hadrian resolved that the key was truly gone.

He had scoured every inch of the astronomy tower and combed the hallways, to no avail. Hadrian made his way back to the Slytherin dormitory, climbed into bed and let the tears come. He had lost Hermione, he had lost Professor Snape's favor and now, he had lost the one thing that had consistently comforted him when nothing else could. More than anything, Hadrian felt, in some way, that he had let his parents down and he quietly resolved that night that next year would be different. He would be top of his class again. He would become extraordinary, with or without his "magic" key.


	14. School's Out For Summer

Let it never be said that Severus Snape was not more than a little creepy at times.

Certainly, one would find no argument from the notorious marauders of his school days past or from his brother deatheaters, during the first war. Severus had done and seen things of unimaginable horror and to be sure, there were quite a few skeletons in the potion master's proverbial closet. But, through it all, Severus had survived; not because he was a terribly brutish warrior but because he was a master of deception and above all else, stealth.

It had been nearly a month since Hadrian had left Hogwarts, and after Severus had settled into a summer routine and gotten several of his pending patents submitted to the ministry for review, he had begun making regular trips to muggle London. When Minerva questioned him about his frequent visits, he had coolly replied that he was in the midst of overseeing some repairs to his home at Spinner's End. The old witch had, after all, no reason to doubt his story, though she had noticed Severus seemed a little more pensive than he often did during the summer holidays. Summer usually made for a much more lighthearted and tranquil Potion's Master, as there were no "dunderheads" to vex him on a daily basis.

In reality, Severus had been stalking Wool's orphanage, and if that was not "creepy" enough, he had taken to using polyjuice potion to change his identity frequently, should the boy become suspicious of his consistent presence.

He had observed Hadrian on several occasions, playing kick the can by himself, getting in scrap fights with boys twice his size and innocently practicing simple incantations upon a variety of inanimate objects. The boy always looked so sad… so lonely.

Today, Severus, disguised as a red headed vagrant, observed Hadrian a little closer, from the comfort of a nearby park bench. The young wizard was sitting on the front steps of the orphanage, reading what Severus recognized immediately as a second year potions textbook.

"Good lad" he mumbled under his breath.

He watched Hadrian pick a scab on his knee for a few minutes, before he decided to make his move. The question of the key still weighed heavily on his mind and he decided to put the boy through a little test.

He stood a little awkwardly and slowly approached the steps. Hadrian shifted distrustfully and made direct eye contact with him instantly.

"Easy there- lad… I was just happenin' to wonder that this ere key didn't belong to one of you boys…"

As soon as the hobo produced the keychain from his tatty pocket, Hadrian snatched it without any regard for manners in the least.

"Where did _you_ find this?" The boy quickly pulled his wand out and raised it in a defensive stance. "Who are you, old man? Are you a wizard?"

Severus was both shocked and pleased by the boy's spirited reaction.

"A wizard?" he chuckled, "You've been reading too many tall tales… I found it near a storm drain, just yonder..." He motioned in a noncommittal way over his shoulder and took a moment to watch Hadrian's eyes as they moved over the keychain with the sort of reverence usually reserved for admiring great works of art or precious jewels- not a dingy, plastic keychain.

"Never did I see a boy yer age with such a fondness fer somethin' so ordinary" he laughed, and tried to seem as jovial as possible.

"It's…it's sentimental is all." Hadrian clutched the key to his heart briefly and then turned away from the red headed man. "My parents left it to me" he turned back to face the vagrant and extended his hand. "Thank you. I need to be going now".

Before Severus could say another word, the boy had disappeared through the door.

Confirmation.

Severus barely breathed.

It all made a strange sense and as he made his way back to Spinner's End, he found himself running the gamut of emotions from anger to elation. And still, there remained the question of how he could not have known.

How could he have had no knowledge of an heir? He had never known Bellatrix to have been with child; he supposed it was possible that she had taken great pains to cleverly hide it with spellwork.

That Hadrian was his, was hardly a question in his mind as the boy looked nothing like Rodolphous Lestrange and now that he really thought about it, Hadrian's eyes were unmistakably his own. Though Severus would be hesitant to ever admit it, Bellatrix Lestrange had been the only woman he had ever been intimate with, so there was no question in his mind as to the boy's mother.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sat in silent contemplation for over an hour, running the whole absurd thing through his head. It was, suffice it to say, an awful lot to take in. Severus had never thought he would marry, let alone produce offspring. The idea of fatherhood was as foreign to him as muggle politics and he was for the first time in a long time, completely overwhelmed with what to do next.

It was then that Severus recalled how Albus had pestered him many months prior about his romantic relationships, causing the Potion's Master to very nearly choke on his food.

The old man knew _something_ and Severus would not rest until he knew what that was.

* * *

><p>The quick paced clips of Narcissa Malfoy's high heels echoed through the dusty halls of Azkaban prison and from the darkened cells, she heard all manner of cat calls and the nonsensical mutterings of prisoners who'd been driven mad long ago.<p>

"You've got a visitor"

The sound of a chair being dragged across the floor was similar to nails down a chalkboard and Bellatrix cringed as she approached the bars of her cell. She had been moved and now had to face her cousin all day long, which had been both frustrating and wildly entertaining at times.

Narcissa tentatively wiped off the chair before taking a seat.

"You've ten minutes…" snorted the guard. "And we'll be watching". He marched over to a nearby door and resumed his post.

"Hello Cissy, what brings you to my little haven by the sea?"

Narcissa hated seeing her little sister clothed in dirty rags and unaware that there were living creatures rummaging through her tangled mess of hair. It all but broke her heart.

"I meant to come sooner… only…" Narcissa worried her bottom lip and leaned in a little closer to the bars. "Draco's recently told me of a little friend he made at Hogwarts… this boy…he's a … well, he's a different sort of boy…"

"Perhaps you should talk to our dear queer cousin about this one, Cissy- sounds right up his _alley!_" she snorted.

"Bellatrix… this is serious-"

"And so is _that_" She laughed and gestured to Sirius, who perked up at the mention of his name. Narcissa rolled her eyes with much annoyance and did not appear amused in the least.

"The boy's name is..." she leaned in closer now, " Hadrian Hitchens"

Bellatrix quickly sobered and turned away from her sister.

"Odd coincidence isn't it? _Hitchens, _that is… you recall of course, the story of our dear ancestor, Miss Isla Black, who was burned from the family tree when she married that muggle… what was his name?"

"Bob… Bob Hitchens. Of course, I remember the story… Mother used to remind Andromeda of it constantly before she…"

Narcissa nodded. "Draco tells me this Hitchens boy was sorted into Slytherin… and that he comes from… _Wool's orphanage_ in London. Another odd coincidence, is it not?"

Sirius had heard the beginning of their conversation, but was now straining to hear as Narcissa had lowered her voice considerably.

"Back away from the bars, Mrs. Malfoy" The guard raised an eyebrow at the two sisters and returned to his post.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, Bellatrix?"

Bella stared into Narcissa's eyes, and the blonde woman regarded that her little sister looked as though she was a girl of ten again, being caught smuggling tea cakes up her sleeves.

"You can tell me"

Bellatrix said nothing but tucked her hair behind her ear and licked her lips a little. It was as good as a confession, to the elder sister.

"Is it… is it... _his_?"

The pale witch nodded and a tear slipped from her eye.

"Oh, Cissy… I, I didn't know what to do. You mustn't tell Lucius… you must swear you won't tell anyone. If Rodolphous were to find out….Oh, Cissy… please, promise me you'll say nothing!"

"Shh, quiet yourself, Bella. I swear it. I'll say nothing but what of… his father? He'll work it out eventually… how could you think he would stay hidden forever?!"

"I didn't think… I bribed a ministry worker to tamper with his birth records…I…Oh Gods, Cissy- what does he look like? Is he normal?" Bellatrix was practically sobbing now. "Is he beautiful?"

"Get a hold of yourself, Bella." Narcissa was sharp with her sister, not for lack of caring, but rather because she cared a great deal. "Calm down. If it comes to that, I will talk to… _him_ myself. Alright?"

Bella nodded, wiping away her tears with a filthy sleeve.

"This will all be a horrible memory one day... do you hear me? You will be free one day… just think of that, Bella… _you will be free_".

"Time's up"

"No, no… Cissy- don't leave me…"

Narcissa gathered her skirts up and gave her sister one last reassuring look before turning to leave. She spied Sirius out of the corner of her eye and gave a stern nod.

"Cousin" he smiled and reciprocated with an aristocratic bow.

And with that, she was escorted out. And as the sound of her heels on the stone floor diminished, Bellatrix sank to her knees, a crumpled mess of regret and anxiety. If Narcissa had figured it out, it was only a matter of time before Severus stumbled upon the truth, assuming he hadn't already.

It was a disaster. And there was nothing she could do to fix it now.

"Bella…psst…Hey, Bella"

She looked up and saw her cousin staring at her through his bars, looking more and more like some mongrel in a pound.

"Everything alright? News from the outside?"

"Quiet down there, Black" The guard's voice was raspy, like sandpaper.

"Psst, Bella…"

"He's in Slytherin" was the only thing Sirius could hear the witch say under her breath. And she said it over and over again.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, <em>you old coot!<em>"

It is a little known fact that Albus Dumbledore often slept in the nude. So, when he was roused at nearly two in the morning on a Sunday, by what appeared to be a very irate Professor Snape at the foot of his bed, shouting insults, he was flustered to say the least. He swiftly grabbed his spectacles from the bedside table and silently lit the candles with a subtle wave of his left hand.

"Severus…. What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh…. I think you know _full well_"

"Are you drunk?"

"Only slightly…. Are you… are you naked?"

"Only slightly" was his sly reply.

"What do you know about Hadrian Hitchens and how long have you known it?"

The Headmaster stroked his beard thoughtfully and gave Severus a slight nod. In truth, this was not how Albus had thought this whole conversation would eventually come about. But there he was…Severus Snape…. drunk on firewhiskey and mad as a Hippogriff.

"Well? How long have you known?"

"Which part?"

"Don't play dumb with me, old man… all of it…. I want all of it…_now_" he fumed.

Albus began with his trip to the Hall of Records and as he spoke, Severus listened with all the attentiveness of a child hearing their favorite fairytale. But this was no storybook folly, this was reality… _His_ reality.

"So, you see…. I was going to tell you, Severus… in due time… but you've been gone so much, of late, and there truly hasn't been a convenient moment."

"Who else knows?"

"Minerva"

Severus rubbed his face in frustration and began to pace. He was beginning to panic a little.

"What am I supposed to do now, Albus?" He hadn't intended to sound so helpless just then, but if there was anyone on earth that Severus could afford to let his guard down in front of, it was Dumbledore.

"Well, my boy… It's up to you. As of now, Mr. Hitchens is unaware of the facts. As the muggles say… the balls are in your court."

Severus raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster and found he didn't even have the energy to correct him.

"Am I a horrible man?"

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he looked at the boy who had grown up before his eyes and for a moment, saw a flicker of the person he could have been, had fate not intervened when it did.

"You certainly could have been, Severus"

"It's just…. I don't want to be like him… like my…"

"The difference between a good father and a bad one is that a good father is well aware when he's been a bad father"

The two wizards sat there in silence for a while and Severus found that he felt sick, scared, excited and sad all at once.

"Bit chilly in here" Albus finally said. Severus rolled his eyes and stood to leave.

"Oh, by the way Severus…"

The Potions Master stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder.

"Congratulations"

"For what?"

"Your son…"

Severus closed his eyes for a moment and thought about that word...son.

* * *

><p>In her bedroom, Hermione must have started at least a dozen letters to the Hitchens boy, all of which had ended up crumpled and tossed clumsily into the bin.<p>

Every time she tried to write anything, it either came out too angry sounding or too apologetic. And she truly wasn't sure how she wanted to sound, largely because she really wasn't sure how she felt about him. True, he had hexed her to show off for his friends... but she had seen his eyes that day, so full of remorse; that somehow she just couldn't stay angry.

She hated that they weren't friends anymore. Prior to Hogwarts, the little witch hadn't had an easy time making friends at her muggle school. And though she had been slow to make them at Hogwarts, she still had more friends than she'd ever had before.

But there was so little pressure in being friends with Hadrian. While others sometimes made Hermione feel badly about being so intelligent, Hadrian often complimented her on it. And the two used to spend hours in perfect silence, studying in the library. Not that she didn't enjoy the many adventures of the first year with Ron and Harry, but when it came time to buckling down for a study session, or having an intellectual conversation, both boys left much to be desired.

But then she would think of Hadrian's face after he pushed her... that flicker of self confidence when his housemates had cheered him on. She thought of that slight smirk and her blood began to boil. Maybe the Gryffindor prefects had been right all along... maybe Slytherins _really_ were all the same.

"Dear Hadrian..." She chewed on her bottom lip a little... "How... is... your... summer?"

After another minute, she crumpled the letter up again and threw her quill onto the desk.

She lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, which was covered with glow-in-the-dark stars. She wondered what he was doing just then, but mostly she wondered if he had even thought of her once.

* * *

><p>It seemed to Hadrian that summer would last forever. He spent most of his days trying to keep cool in his stuffy room with his nose buried in a book. He was quite relieved that Professor McGonagall had decided to sponsor him somewhat and allowed him to purchase a few of his textbooks early. Though, he had thought it a bit odd, as he was under the impression she didn't care for the Slytherin students, let alone one who had nearly killed her most prized Gryffindor. Those textbooks had kept him occupied during what would have otherwise been an incredibly dull holiday thus far.<p>

Back in early June, Hadrian had received an invitation to Draco Malfoy's birthday party. He wished more than anything that he could have gone and imagined it would have been quite the formal affair with all manner of extravagance. But, in the end, Hadrian reasoned that it was probably for the best that he had been unable to attend, due to the fact he would look quite shabby next to the other guests, and he certainly would not have been able to bring Draco a gift. Still, Hadrian was happy to have been included. Though he didn't know Draco all that well, he liked the idea that he was deemed a close enough housemate to be invited. He kept the invitation as pristine as possible, and added it to his growing collection of mementos that he had begun keeping after his first few months at school. When Hadrian was sad, he would open up the dented tin box where he kept all his treasures, and take each one out, examine it and then place it back in the box. It was something of a ritual for him. There was the Hogwarts acceptance letter that Dumbledore had given him, a stale licorice wand, his ticket stub from the Hogwarts Express, a small dead sprig of devil's snare, a gobstone he had found in the common room, and, of course, a bookmark Hermione had left in an advanced charms textbook they had been sharing. Hadrian had considered throwing out the little reminder, but every time he tried, he found it quite impossible to part with.

Hadrian rolled onto his back and stared up at the cracked ceiling. He wondered what Hermione's summer holiday had been like and frowned a little when he thought of Harry Potter. If only he could have known how equally miserable Harry's summer had been, devoid of the magical world both boys had been newly introduced to last year. Perhaps then, Hadrian would have realized that he and Harry were more alike than anyone could have imagined.

Suddenly, there came a steady knock upon the door, which startled Hadrian, causing him to sit up on his bed. And then something happened that quite shocked him; Professor Snape stood in the doorway of his tiny room, looking as imposing as ever, dressed entirely in black, with a dark stare fixed on his pale face. Hadrian quickly stood to his feet and was about to speak when his professor gestured for him to take a seat.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hitchens."

"Afternoon… Professor. Is everything alright? I mean…why are _you_ here? I mean…"

"I came to… check in... on you" Severus realized how awkward it sounded as soon as he said it.

"Do you have… everything you need?" Again, as soon as he said the words he instantly wished he would have said something else… for one look around the sad little room had made it evidently clear that the boy was accustomed to having nothing at all.

Hadrian gave him a blank stare and shrugged a little.

"Professor McGonagall helped me get some of my school books early."

He watched his professor silently eye the room, and wondered what on earth he was doing there. Not that he minded having a visitor, but it seemed extraordinarily out of character for Professor Snape to turn up at a student's "home" during the summer.

"Yes… Professor McGonagall once helped me out in much the same way." Severus thumbed through a few of the textbooks that were stacked on the small desk in the corner. And that's when he saw the keychain dangling around the boy's neck, from what appeared to be a worn shoelace.

He looked up to see Hadrian staring at him with an altogether puzzled expression and Severus was suddenly full of self-doubt. What was he doing there? Should he tell him? Should he leave? He had wrestled with whether or not to tell Hadrian the truth since he had first discovered it. And now, here he was… face to face with his son and he could not think of a single thing to say.

"I did not see you at Mr. Malfoy's party. Surely you must have been invited."

"I was…but, well… I didn't have a way to get there and I…"

It was like watching his history repeat in real time. The boy was so awkward, so tragically awkward.

"Mr. Hitchens…" Severus was beginning to panic. "I am sorry to have disturbed you...I'll-"

"Not at all Professor… I'm actually quite glad to see you," Hadrian gave a small smile. "I wonder if I might ask you a question … it's a Potions question, actually."

"Of course."

Hadrian opened his book and began prattling on about flubberworm dissection. Normally, Severus would have been just as keen as the Hitchens boy to discuss the finer points of potion-making, but he found he was having a hard time concentrating. Perhaps this had been a mistake. What was he going to say? It wouldn't do to simply spring it on him.

"You're quite right, Mr. Hitchens, flubberworm mucous is rather useful for thickening potions, but one thing your book may not mention is that fact that while flubberworms predominately consume vegetation, there are rare instances by which they will become carnivorous, in which case the mucous changes from a harmless substance to a poisonous one. Using it at a thickening agent when you are unsure of the flubberworms most recent diet, could contaminate the potion."

"Fascinating." Hadrian was wildly scribbling notes into the margin of his book and Severus felt his heart would break all over again.

"Mr. Hitchens… I..." Severus was careful to choose his words here, "I expect great things from you this year and I will _not_ accept less. You have an opportunity to truly excel if you stay focused and if I can offer you one piece of advice it is this… stay _away_ from Harry Potter".

With that, the Potions Master stood and bid his favorite student a good afternoon. It was the hardest thing he'd done in a long while, turning his back on a boy who desperately needed him. A boy, who much as he tried to ignore the fact, was a _Snape_ through and through.

* * *

><p>Sirius Black was pacing back and forth in his cell, like a wild animal. He could feel the very blood in his veins rushing through his body, he could hear his own heart thudding against his chest. He was so close… and then… like a fleeting dream, it was gone. He let out a howl of frustration.<p>

"Give it a rest..." Bellatrix drawled but Sirius tried to pay her no mind. "You don't think _I_ know what you're doing but I assure you cousin, I do… and it won't work."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, _cousin_… "

Bellatrix approached the bars of her cell, her eyes darting back and forth as she watched him pace. She began to whistle, as if calling for a dog's attention.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"I know you thought you and your marauder friends quite sneaky, but I assure you, you were not as inconspicuous as you would have believed. Nor was your loopy little friend, Lupin." She smiled.

"_Keep your voice down, would you!_"

"Oi… quiet down there, you two!"

"Sirius… do you have any idea how much energy you would need to…" she waited for the guard to walk the length of the hallway before continuing, "transform."

"And what would _you_ know about it?"

"Come now, cousin, do you not recall who held the top marks in Transfiguration class for all seven years at Hogwarts?"


	15. An Extraordinary Opportunity

The castle halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were eerily silent. As if they too anticipated the arrival of new students.

Saxon, Professor Snape's cat, padded through the dungeon hallways. Like a fat little soldier, he made his rounds to each dormitory, and looped back around to the common room for a nap by the fireplace.

As he settled on a plush green cushion, he had a feeling of unease creep over him. Something he couldn't quite put his paw on…

He looked around the room. Nothing was out of place but something felt dreadfully wrong. He could hear the "dark one" pacing down the hall, which he seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

In just a few hours, the common room would be overrun with vermin of the child variety and Saxon would attempt to make himself scarce until summertime.

He took a final look around the room and curled up for a much needed nap.

Little could he have known that creeping below the surface, a monster lay in wait.

* * *

><p>The second year welcoming feast at Hogwarts went very much the way the first one had for Hadrian Hitchens; with one exception. Albus and Minerva couldn't seem to keep their eyes off him throughout dinner. He looked the same as he always had but was about a head taller.<p>

"He looks a lot like _her_ too, you know." Minerva whispered to the Headmaster over their dinner.

"Yes… yes, I suppose he does." Dumbledore was distracted by many things at the moment. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had still not arrived and though he knew they would be there any minute, he worried with all the worry of a grandfather. He hoped the flying car would get them there in one piece. Severus also weighed heavy on his mind of late. When Albus had announced to the staff that the famous Gilderoy Lockheart would be appointed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, Severus had practically stopped talking to him altogether.

"You know... I once wrestled an Acromantula to the death," Gilderoy boasted while stuffing his face with a forkful of roasted potatoes.

Nearly every female member of the staff swooned. Hagrid rolled his eyes, tucking into his plate of ham and muttering something about them being "misunderstood creatures".

Albus and Minerva smiled a little knowingly at each other and continued eating.

"Where is Severus tonight? You'd think he could put in a bit more effort at being present for... well, you know what I mean."

"Severus is doing what he was made for, Minerva..."

"Of course..." she said a little apologetically. "I do hope Potter and Weasley are alright..."

"I'm sure they are fine... it's Severus I'm worried about."

Albus knew the Potions Master was also having a difficult time dealing with the idea of fatherhood. But every time he attempted to bring it up with Severus, the dark wizard would spit insults back at him, get defensive and storm off in a rage. Minerva had also tried to counsel Severus, but to no avail. It seemed this was something he would have to work out in his own time. Though both Dumbledore and McGonagall hoped it would be sooner rather than later. For the boy still looked as though he needed much in the way of parenting.

They had both noticed that his robes were much too small for his frame and his pants much too short. His hair was a tangled mess and hung over his eyes, so that one never really knew which way he was looking. While he had been greeted by several Slytherin students, it still seemed they left him to sit alone, isolating him from much of the conversation over dinner. To anyone who knew Severus as a boy, it would have appeared that history was to repeat itself.

It was then that the old wizard caught sight of Hermione Granger peering at Hadrian over her pumpkin juice, and this made him smile. Perhaps there was hope for their forbidden friendship yet.

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron each took a mental inventory of their limbs as they ran from the scene of the crime.<p>

The Whomping Willow had nearly squashed them several times over and the flying car they had hijacked from Ron's parents was long gone by now, having spit out their luggage and disappeared into the Forbidden Forest.

The two boys observed the Great Hall through a window as they leaned against the outer wall, catching their breath.

"Hang on" Harry muttered, "There's an empty chair at the head table… Where's Snape?"

"Maybe he's ill" Ron suggested rather hopefully.

"Maybe he's left for good" Harry grinned.

"Or maybe…" a voice startled them from behind, "he's waiting to hear an explanation as to why you both were not on the train… let's… continue this in my office. _Shall we?_"

* * *

><p>Bellatrix Lestrange, alone in her cell, focused every ounce of her energy upon her animagus transformation. For just as Sirius was an unregistered animagus, so had Bellatrix secretly acquired the skill as a student long ago.<p>

Day and night, she worked. She thought of nothing but her freedom and of one day seeing the boy she had given up all those years ago.

"I can't do it anymore, Bella..._ I can't_ go on... I'm starving. I'm worn out" Sirius Black whimpered in the dark.

"You must, Sirius. You must go on." She hissed harshly through the bars.

"It'll never work... it's never going to work... We'll die in here!"

"_Pull yourself together, Sirius_!"

"Shhh! _Quiet, you lot!_ Don't make me come back there!" A guard shouted from the distance.

"Sirius... think back... think of..." She racked her brain for what to say; anything to lift her cousin's spirit. "Think of Lupin... think of your friends... we both know you're innocent... Think of that... Remember Regulus... you used to be the best of friends,_ brothers_... avenge him, Sirius. Stand up."

From the darkness, she heard her cousin sigh and stand up.

"It's going to work, Sirius."

She had to believe it would work. Even if it took her years, she had to believe that she would live to see her son again.

* * *

><p>After an extreme reprimanding from Professor Snape, both boys were exceedingly grateful to see Professor McGonagall, who escorted them out of Snape's office and assured them they would not be expelled and who, unlike Snape, seemed much more concerned with whether or not they had been hurt. Severus, on the other hand was horrified when he heard the boys would receive a mere detention.<p>

"All I'm saying, Headmaster, is that if those had been a pair of my Slytherins, they'd have been expelled for sure."

"Severus… I think we both know what it is you're truly upset about… my boy, some things will be out of your control. I know you mean to protect Harry, but he is a boy first and the 'boy-who-lived' second. He's going to get into mischief. You would do well to remember that." The Headmaster smiled and, in an effort to break up some of the tension between them, offered him a piece of toffee.

Severus sneered and turned to leave.

"Have you spoken to Hadrian since the summer?"

"No", was his cold reply.

"He's a lot taller." Albus approached the Potions Master slowly, setting a hand on his shoulder, "You know… Severus, it could have been worse… he could have been…"

"You think _I_ haven't thought of every horrible thing which could have befell him? " He tore away quickly from the Headmaster.

"You think _I_ haven't laid in bed at night, unable to sleep when I think of all the dangers he's yet to face… Albus, the last thing he needs is to know about me…"

"He respects you, Severus."

"_As a teacher maybe_… but have you considered how he'll feel when he finds out that his father is the great bat of the dungeon? The greasy git professor? The traitor? And what about his_ mother_?! The ruthless torturer of his classmates' parents?! He's better off being an orphan."

With that, Severus stormed away, robes billowing behind as he disappeared down the dark stone hallway.

Albus watched him go with a heavy heart and a new determination to see father and son united at last.

* * *

><p>News of Harry and Ron's misadventures with the Whomping Willow had spread quite quickly throughout the school by the next day. However, Hermione was the only student who hadn't congratulated them or looked on in admiration.<p>

"You could have been expelled!"

"Expelled?" Ron squeaked. "I think we were lucky not to be killed!"

"Can we try to get through second year without one of us nearly being killed, please?!" Hermione barked.

"Honestly, after the howler Ron's mum sent, I think our days of mischief are well over!" Harry said with all the confidence in the world.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, Second Years." Professor Sprout was a stout woman with untamed hair and a round cheery face. "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Naturally Hermione's hand shot up before anyone else and she went on with a lengthy, well-rehearsed explanation. Hadrian smirked a little. He had memorized the same definition from the coursework. She was confident alright, he thought, but only when she knew she couldn't lose. And she certainly wasn't much of a risk taker.

Later that morning, in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class with "Professor" Lockheart, it was the same story.

Hermione Granger would raise her hand with the same verbatim textbook answers and receive house points left and right. Throughout every class that Slytherin had with Gryffindor that day, Hadrian remained silent, like a snake in the grass… picking his moment to strike.

That moment finally came after lunch.

* * *

><p>"Afternoon, Second Years." Professor Snape drawled in an even tone as the children took their seats. Truth be told, Severus had not been as prepared to see the boy sitting there as he thought. He took one look at Hadrian and for an inexplicable reason, all he could bring himself to feel was anger.<p>

"Book's away" he snapped.

"We'll be starting today's lesson with a repeat of one of last year's potions… I want to test how many of you actually learned anything."

More than a few students looked rather nervous upon hearing this.

"You will each work alone. You may use the entire class period to work. You will be making a simple boil cure potion. Starting…."

Hermione's hand shot high in the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger? What is it?"

"Sir, you haven't written out the ingredients we'll need on the board"

Professor Snape folded his arms and loomed over the girl like some dark ominous vulture.

"You may…" he chanced a quick look around the room, "begin!"

With that he turned on his heel and sat behind his desk.

Several students sprung into action, while others looked completely bewildered.

Hermione shut her eyes and tried to visualize her texbook from last year. Harry looked pleadingly at Ron, who looked equally as panicked as poor Neville. Even Draco Malfoy, who was fairly skilled at Potions, was entirely flustered by the assignment. The only person who truly did not seem in the least bit worried was, well… Hadrian Hitchens. While others were clamoring to raid the store room for supplies, he calmly waited for everyone to clear out so he could gather his ingredients in relative peace. His lack of concern did not go unnoticed by Professor Snape, or Hermione for that matter.

Once he had collected everything he needed, he set to work crushing snake fangs. Severus could not believe his eyes, as Hadrian began to crush the fangs in the same way he always did, evenly and precisely, running the pestle along every inner curve of the mortar… so that it was as fine as dust.

He then added the crushed fangs to the cauldron and began heating it. In the meantime, Hermione had only just sat back down at her station and was also crushing snake fangs, albeit in much more crudely a fashion so that the powder was far too grainy. She wasn't entirely sure she had grabbed all of the correct ingredients, but she would be damned if she was going to try to sneak a peek at anyone else's cauldron.

Hadrian now set to work preparing the horned slugs and porcupine quills for inclusion. While he waited, for the concoction to bubble, he made yet another trip into the storeroom. While he stepped away, many of the students chanced a look at his work thus far.

"Mine looks _nothing_ like that" Neville panicked. "Mine's all… brown. His is green…"

Upon hearing this, Hermione was relieved. Her potion was currently a nice verdant shade as well.

"Eyes on your own cauldrons, Potter, Finnegan, Longbottom..."

When Hadrian returned, he walked right up to Professor Snape's desk and produced a large jar of flobberworm mucous.

"Mr. Hitchens, I hope you will consider very carefully the next words which come out of your mouth..." Severus squinted at him a little, "What do you intend to do with that jar of mucous?"

"I wanted to ask you how fresh it was, Professor. There was nothing written on the label."

"If you had to brew this potion in an emergency, you would not be able to ask such a question... so...figure it out for yourself, Hitchens."

Hadrian was not entirely sure why Professor Snape seemed angry with him, but he took the jar back to the storeroom and returned to his station. This little exchange had not gone unnoticed though and a few of the students wondered if they had forgotten an ingredient.

It was then that Hadrian produced another jar from his satchel. This one was also labeled as flobberworm mucous, but it was a far more translucent green color than the one from the storeroom. This caught Severus' attention immediately.

"Mr. Hitchens, where did you procure this ingredient?" Professor Snape approached the boy's desk and several students cowered a little as he walked by.

"I harvested it myself from a pair of flobberworms I collected yesterday evening."

"And did either of these flobberworms bite you, Mr. Hitchens?"

"No sir. I also kept them separated from one another to ensure the mucous would remain untainted."

The boy's mouth spread into a confident smile when he saw the slight smirk upon his Professor's lips and he set to work adding the horned slugs and the quills.

The liquid was now a dull yellow color. Before Hadrian waved his wand over it to completion, he scooped out about a palm full of fresh mucous and stirred his potion counter clockwise. The potion bubbled a little and took on a vibrant blue color.

Upon seeing this, several students stood up and ran to the storeroom to get some flobberworm mucous for their potions as well. But the results were quite different and most of them resulted in completely failed potions or dark, soupy brown color. Severus watched the boy work and some small sense of pride began to overwhelm him.

By the end of the class period, it was quite clear who had created the superior potion. Not only had Hadrian finished first, but he had shown creative intuition in his brewing.

Hermione set her potion to cool and was content that she had completed the assignment without incident. But there was some part of her that wished she and Hadrian were still friends; not just so that she could pick his brain about the mucous, but she missed having a friend of the same intellectual caliber. The boy felt eyes on him and turned to see the princess of Gryffindor staring at him, but he looked away almost instantly.

"Well _that_ was a dismal display..." Professor Snape drawled. "Tsk, tsk... If this is the best you lot have to offer, the future of potions looks rather grim indeed" He glared at Hermione Granger for a few seconds. "Well done, Hitchens. Five points to Slytherin. You are all dismissed."

The students all stood at once, some seemingly more eager to escape the dungeons than others.

"All, but you... Mr. Hitchens."

Hadrian sat back down and chanced a look over at Hermione, and was surprised to see that she was still staring at him. He granted her a slight nod and looked down at his hands. Maybe they could still be friends, he thought. Maybe she truly had forgiven the incidents of last term.

Once everyone had cleared out, Professor Snape approached the boy's station.

"That was an impressive display."

"Thank you, sir" was his somewhat sheepish reply.

"Tell me, Mr. Hitchens...how committed are you to being extraordinary?"

It was an odd question, to be sure. And the boy really wasn't entirely sure how to answer it.

"I... well... I want to be the best, if that's what you mean... Professor. I want to help my housemates win the House Cup" he finally said.

"I see. House Cup, eh?" He sat across from the boy and it somewhat unnerved Hadrian.

"I worked through the rest of your notations on the Devil's Snare over the summer... and, well... Mr. Hitchens... I'll not dance around the truth...you have the makings of a break through discovery on your hands."

Hadrian could hardly believe what he was hearing. Praise? Outward praise from the one person he truly wanted it from.

"That being said, you will need someone to guide you through the next steps... someone who can not only mentor you but perhaps... sponsor you."

Severus immediately wished he had used a different word. It sounded so cold in his mouth... so sterile and detached. But how else should it sound? Some part of him wanted to rip this charade off like a bandage and come clean... tell the boy the truth. But somehow, as he looked into those dark brooding little eyes, he just couldn't do it.

"Sponsor me... sir?"

"Indeed." Severus stood and turned away from the boy for a moment to mask whatever emotion might be revealed in his eyes. "You are... an orphan."

After a few more seconds, he turned to face the boy again. "As such... you've no means of paying for necessities. A new cauldron for example... perhaps a nice copper one? You will also need someone to help you secure a patent."

"But who would sponsor me?"

"Well... I would."

For a long time, both wizards were rather silent.

"Of course... it would mean a lot of extra time spent doing research and taking on some of the responsibilities of early apprenticeship. The arrangement will also have to be approved by the headmaster and naturally, my solicitor will have to draw up the necessary papers. Is it... is it something you would be interested in pursuing, Mr. Hitchens?"

Hadrian was in much too much shock to answer right away. His eyes had the sort of glazed over look to them that very insane or very sad people get just before they begin to cry.

"Mr. Hitchens? A simple yes or no will suffice." Severus hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but the anticipation was rather nerve-wracking. And though he was normally a patient man, he was overwhelmed by the confusing jumble of emotion he felt at the present time.

"Yes..." The boy spoke barely above a whisper. "Yes... I... I don't know what to say, Professor! Thank you!"

It was breaking his heart... watching his son's eyes well up with tears of joy. Watching his son's dreams suddenly come true and not being able to share his pride with anyone but himself.

It wasn't perfect... but it was a start. Perhaps, Severus thought... perhaps one day when the boy was older he would tell him the whole sordid story of how he came to be... but for now, this would have to do.

Hadrian was smiling from ear to ear. He was being given the chance he had been waiting for; to be extraordinary. And he would not do anything to jeopardize this opportunity.

"Sir... when can we draw up those papers?"


	16. The Whole Sordid Story

_A/N: I have included a link within the text to the Black Sabbath album used during this chapter if you'd like to "listen along" with Severus and Bellatrix ;) Simply copy and paste the following link into youtube url.  
><em>

_ watch?v=JitHrPXpRYw_

_Also... "**tasteful mature content" ahead**... you've been warned ;)  
><em>

_Lyrics borrowed from Black Sabbath's 1970 album "Paranoid"_

_War Pigs  
><em>

_Paranoid  
><em>

_Planet Caravan  
><em>

_Enjoy! _

* * *

><p>Bellatrix finally succumbed to exhaustion and found she could no longer focus on transforming, much as she tried. She looked over at Sirius and found that he was curled up on the floor of his cell, fast asleep.<p>

She knew the animagus spell would not be accomplished overnight, but she hadn't realized how far out of practice she had fallen over the years in captivity. It had been raining all day and a small puddle had formed in her cell, near what could hardly be called a window, but was a small opening nonetheless. She crawled over to the puddle and peered into the still water. For the first time in a long time, she saw her own reflection and tears welled up in her eyes. She was hideous. How had she let herself become so horrid? When had she truly just given up?

She slapped the water with her hand and sat back against the cold stone wall. She wanted to cry, but found she barely had the energy to do so. She thought about the days leading up to her imprisonment. She thought of every bad decision she ever made, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to include Severus Snape in her list of regrets. Where the Potions Master was concerned, the only thing she regretted was not running away with him when she had any number of chances. Life as the property of Rodolphous LeStrange had been worse than she ever imagined. She felt vile ever time he touched her. Severus, awkward as he was, always made her feel that she was so precious. That she was somehow worth being loved. He was, perhaps too kind to her, considering she had been perfectly wicked to him.

She closed her eyes and thought back to the seemingly endless spring she and Severus had spent together when all this madness had begun.

* * *

><p><strong>APRIL 1980 <strong>

A steady series of knocks came upon the door of Severus Snape's home at Spinner's End. The young wizard gripped his wand and approached the door slowly. These were crazy times, after all. The war had already taken its toll and Severus, who was not a trusting man to begin with, had become increasingly paranoid. Though it had only been a few short years that he had been out of Hogwarts, the now twenty-year-old Severus felt as though he had aged tremendously due to the stress that constantly surrounded him.

"Who's there?"

"It's _me_…open the door. It's raining out here!"

"Who is 'me'?"

"_Severus Snape_… _open the damn door_!"

At last he recognized the voice and opened it to reveal the hooded figure of Bellatrix LeStrange standing in his doorway.

"Come in."

He ushered her in and silently conjured a small fire.

"It's pouring out there…" She forced a laugh and her voice cracked a little.

"Let me take your cloak…"

"No!" She backed away defensively, pulling the hood down over the right side of her face a little.

"Are you… are you alright?" He stood there staring at her for a long time and finally motioned for her to sit down.

"I'm… fine." Her cloak slipped, revealing a swollen bruise around her right eye.

Severus said nothing when he saw her sallow cheeks flush with color. He stood and silently walked out of the room. It seemed like ages before he returned to the small sitting room and Bellatrix began to think she had misjudged in coming to him. She couldn't keep running to him every time she and Rodolphous had a fight and she knew it.

When he returned, he was carrying a small vial and a white jar.

"What's that?" She eyed him more suspiciously than she truly needed to.

"Drink this. It's a simple calming draught."

She did as she was told and took a deep breath. The muscles in her face relaxed after a few seconds and she slumped forward a little, as if her body had finally run out of adrenaline.

"Now, I'll just fix that for you, shall I?" He somewhat bashfully motioned to her face and she nodded.

When he unscrewed the top off the jar, Bellatrix smelled notes of lavender, comfrey and peppermint.

He knelt down in front of her and began to rub the salve around the ridge of her eye and along the high arch of her cheekbone. Under his long spindly fingers, her skin was as supple as a rose petal and he felt he would come utterly undone.

When he was finished, he returned the jar to the kitchen, washed his hands and put the kettle on. That simple act… that routine, spoke of experience. She could hear him bustling around in the kitchen and she had to admit she found it oddly endearing that, in the privacy of his own home, Severus preferred to do things like a muggle.

She took the opportunity to look around the cramped little house. The furniture was quite simple and some of it, rather shoddy indeed. Three bookshelves on the opposite wall were sagging from the tremendous weight of the books. And the sofa she was sitting on was very much in need of reupholstering.

There weren't many photographs or paintings around the house, though there were obviously empty spots on the walls, where most likely, a picture once hung. In the corner, she observed the "record player", which Severus had explained to her several times over. She would never admit it, but she loved to hear him explain mundane muggle artifacts.

"Do you take anything in your tea?"

"Just milk, if you have it" Her voice was breathy and tired.

Severus returned after another moment, with two cups of piping hot tea.

"Sorry that took so long… You mustn't tell anyone, but I prefer to make tea the muggle way." He attempted to smile, but it somehow always looked more like a smirk.

For a long time, neither of them said a word, sipping their tea in silent contemplation of one another.

"Bellatrix..?" Severus paused and appeared that he was choosing his words very carefully. "Why didn't you use the key I gave you… just now… when you knocked on the door?"

"It never feels right to me, just barging in on you like that." She took another sip of tea and a playful smile spread across her lips.

"What is it you find so amusing?"

"Oh nothing… I was just thinking how funny it would have been if I had walked in on you with someone. _You see_, Snape… this is why giving me a key to your little haven was an ill conceived idea."

"I haven't got anyone for you to walk in on me with." He tried to make a conscious effort not to sneer as he said this.

Bellatrix set her teacup down. "I'm sorry Snape… I didn't mean anything by that."

"It's fine..." he mumbled.

Again, the two of them sat in silence for far too long and Bellatrix found she felt rather guilty. After another moment, she finished her tea and stood.

"And just where do _you_ think you're off to?"Snape raised an eyebrow.

"I can't stay"

"You can't go back to him, Bellatrix… please." Severus stood a little aggressively.

"I'll be fine… he's not always like that… he just gets…"

It was all too familiar to Severus. His mother had been the same way; constantly making excuses for his father's abusive behavior.

"He'll kill you one day." He spoke softly, as a child might but his eyes looked almost ancient in their wisdom.

"Snape…"

"Please stop calling me that…Bella… I need you to stay here tonight… _please_."

He was now an inch from her face, staring at her with pleading black eyes.

"Sna- Severus… You know I can't."

"I'll take care of you, _I promise._ You'll be safe here."

The girl was exhausted. And the thought of one night without being tossed about like a filthy ragdoll was looking more and more appealing even if it was a night spent in the impossibly cramped and drab little muggle house.

_"One_ night… but I have to get back to him in the morning or he'll start looking… and it would not be good if he found me _here_."

No sooner had she agreed, Severus sprung into action, clearing away the empty teacups.

"Where are you going?" She stopped him at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm heading up to the washroom to draw you a bath." He spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll just need a minute to prepare the… spare room for you."

She smiled and watched him go, settling back into the rather uncomfortable but not unwelcome sofa. Poor Severus. It seemed to her that throughout their time at Hogwarts, and even now as young adults, Severus somehow always fell into the same role as "caring, selfless friend". It occurred to her that she had never known Severus to have a girlfriend and she wondered if she wasn't the only "damsel in distress" he was in the habit of looking after. What a lonely sort of life, she thought… to be so clearly in love with someone you knew you couldn't have.

* * *

><p>Upstairs, Severus frantically cast a cleansing charm over the bathtub and conjured his most expensive ointments and shampoos from a nearby cupboard. Contrary to popular belief, Severus took great pride in the maintenance of his hair, which he felt was his best physical attribute, if he had any at all.<p>

He ran the water and lit a few candles for her and when he felt the washroom was sufficiently prepared, he hurried over to his parents' room.

There may not be time, he thought, to properly clean it up. In the few years he had lived there, he had not once set foot in that room and it showed. A thick layer of dust coated everything and spiderwebs clung to the bedposts like a canopy of lace. It simply wouldn't do. He would give her _his_ room.

"Bella, you can come up when you're ready." he called down to her from the top of the stairs and quickly went to his bedroom to make sure it was in order. After conjuring clean sheets and straightening up his desk, he was satisfied. After all, it could never be said that Severus Snape was slovenly in the least. In fact, one look at his sparse, yet well ordered bedroom would be quite revealing of his personality indeed.

He passed Bellatrix in the hallway.

"There are some fresh towels by the sink and please feel free to use anything I've put out." The thought that Bellatrix Black (for he could never get used to calling her by her married name), was to be nude in his bathtub was nearly too much for the young wizard and he shuffled past her, almost too embarrassed to look her in the eye.

"Severus?"

He stopped at the top of the stairs but didn't turn around.

"You're a good man."

Before he could say anything, he heard the door click shut behind him.

* * *

><p>Bellatrix unhooked her corseted top and let her robes fall to the floor. As she climbed into the tub, she was suddenly very much aware of her aching body. Bruises of various color covered her back and arms. And there were several scars along her wrists; little white lines etched on her skin by her own hand. If Severus had seen this, he truly would never let the witch out of his sight again, she thought. But this was the last time she would come crying to Snape… it had to be.<p>

She leaned back in the tub and let the warm water envelope her.

At last, she felt relaxed. The soaps and tonics he had left out smelled beautiful and she wondered if he had prepared them himself.

Severus Snape, for all his snarky comments and less than perfect social skills, was one of the most decent men she had ever known. When she thought of how her own husband treated her on a daily basis, it made her ill. And what was worse, he now expected her to be a broodmare. Their most recent fight had been about that very thing. Rodolphous had slapped her, accusing her of using spells and potions to keep from falling pregnant. The truth was, he was right. She had been actively avoiding pregnancy since their marriage, which was held barely two months after her graduation from Hogwarts.

She had graduated at the top of her class in several subjects, and had truly shown so much promise in Transfiguration that even Professor McGonagall was forced to acknowledge it. But then, virtually overnight, she was stripped of her identity and given a new last name… a _new_ pureblood family to be subservient to and a new expectation of what her role in the world was to be. Her sister, Narcissa, who had been married a year earlier had fallen into that role without resistance. She was silent, obedient and well manicured at all times. Unfortunately, it had been a challenge for Narcissa to conceive until the past year. And now, she was pregnant with her first child, due in June. Ever the dutiful, well behaved pureblood witch.

Bellatrix closed her eyes and tried not to think about anything. Her breasts were swollen from a horrible beating Rodolphous had given her a few days prior. As she gingerly washed her chest with a soft sponge, she couldn't help but think of the dark, brooding wizard downstairs. How could he be so kind to her and truly expect nothing in return? In Bella's experience, this was not the way most men operated at all. But then, Severus Snape was not "most men".

She dipped her head back in the water and let her hair soak for a few minutes before running some wonderfully smelling conditioner through it. The candlelight had been a nice touch, she thought. It was truly the most relaxed she'd felt in ages and she was extremely grateful for it.

* * *

><p>Downstairs, Severus had been slaving away in the kitchen. He only knew how to make a handful of dishes, but he made them expertly. Tonight he had decided to make baked salmon, with a blackberry and ginger glaze. He would pair it with roasted potatoes and green beans and, of course, a vintage wine. He opened up the creaky pantry, where he kept, among other odds and ends, his best bottles. He pulled one from the middle shelf and dusted off the label. Tonight, he thought, was certainly a special enough occasion to open up the Elf-made wine Lucius Malfoy had given him a few years prior.<p>

Who was he kidding? "Special occasion"? The woman had just been beaten… and yet he couldn't stop smiling. He silently chided himself for being so caught up in his own eagerness to be alone with her, that he rather forgot why she was there in the first place. She wasn't there because of him. And Severus knew he would do well to remember that.

He shrugged and was about to put the bottle back on the shelf.

"I _love_ elf-made wine!"

She startled him a little and he turned rather quickly to face her.

"What do you think?" She smiled and gave a little turn.

Her hair was perfectly dry and fell in soft black curls over her shoulders, tenderly framing her nearly ceramic face, the bruise all but faded now. She had transfigured her black robes to a dress of rich forest green, which hugged her curves in all the right places. Severus almost forgot to breathe; he found her so stunning.

"You look… I mean, that is… the bruise is fading well." He was rather flustered and decided to focus his attention back on the meal.

"It smells delicious… I didn't know you cooked." She leaned against the kitchen wall and watched him brush the blackberry glaze over the salmon with all the precision of a painter.

"It's not so different from potion making" was his humble reply.

At last, the meal was ready to be served. Bellatrix did her part, conjuring up one of the most elaborate place settings Severus had ever seen.

"Wow… I forget sometimes how magnificently talented you are." He regretted saying the words as they flew from his mouth. But the witch gave him a forgiving and knowing glance.

"I'm sorry, Bella… I…"

"It's fine. I forget I'm a witch _at all_ sometimes lately." She smiled and tapped a fingernail against her empty wine glass.

The dark wizard poured them each a large glass of wine and the two began eating and talking. Severus couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed a dinner in his home so much; truth be told, maybe he never had.

"Severus… that food was unbelievable… I didn't even realize how hungry I was until I began eating. You should open up your own restaurant!" She giggled.

"Shall I?" He laughed with his deep, rich baritone and this was how Bella knew it was genuine. "Only if you do all the decorating and deal with the patrons… " he smiled the best smile he could muster. He deeply wished that she knew how happy she had made him tonight.

"Thank you… Bella."

The young woman's face suddenly grew rather serious. "Severus… I should be the one profusely thanking you! You've no need to thank me for suffering through your excellent hospitality and fine wine." She raised an eyebrow at Snape when he uncharacteristically blushed. "Now then… let's leave these dishes to themselves… I want to hear more of that muggle band you showed me last time I was here!" She scooped up a second, less expensive bottle of wine from the counter and settled on the sofa.

Severus hesitated for a moment. Something about this whole experience felt strangely ominous… like it used to feel when the Marauders would pull the rug out from underneath his feet with some odd prank of another. No; something about this didn't feel right at all. Why was she being so candid with him? Was it a trap?

"Bellatrix… I… I find that I'm quite tired actually."

She looked at him and cocked her head a little.

"There are clean sheets on the bed… my bed… I mean, you can sleep in my room, it's across the hall from the washroom. Please… help yourself to anything on the bookshelf. I… I think I'll clean up the kitchen a bit before bed. Goodnight." With that, Severus turned on his heel and walked out.

At that moment, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black could have fallen out of the coat closet together and it would not have been nearly as awkward as Snape's bizarre departure from the sitting room. Bellatrix finished off her glass of wine and was about to waltz into the kitchen demanding answers. But then she thought better of it when she realized she didn't require them. She knew why he had retreated like a wounded dog.

"Goodnight, Snape..." she called from the bottom of the stairs. When she didn't hear a reply, she headed up, snuffing the lights out as she went.

* * *

><p>It was quite some time before Severus emerged from the safety of his kitchen and he was both relieved and a little sad upon reentering the darkened, empty room. He listened for any sounds of movement upstairs, but heard nothing. Had he overreacted? Perhaps a bit, but he reasoned that he had enjoyed the witch's company too much and she was certainly not his to enjoy. If it ever got back to Rodolphous, he shuddered to think what the consequences might be.<p>

"Oh bugger it all!" he pinched the bridge of his nose and flopped down on the sofa. It was then that Saxon, the cat, made his first appearance of the night, and stuck his head out from behind a drawn curtain. He meowed a little and jumped up to settle on his master's chest.

"Go on… say it, I'm pathetic"

Saxon purred as Severus stroked his soft ears and traced little circles in his jet-black fur. And then, just as mysteriously as he had turned up, he vanished into a dark corner of the dimly lit house.

Severus eyed the corked bottle of wine on the end table. It was to be one of those nights where he could do nothing but wait for the morning to creep over the grimy, cobbled streets of Cokeworth.

He loosened the collar of his shirt and unlaced his boots before pouring himself a generous glass of wine. After a few sips, he stood and shuffled through his records for a bit before deciding upon his tried and true "go to" album since he was a first year student. He handled the worn record sleeve as if it were some precious and volatile potion. He set the needle down upon the spinning vinyl and adjusted the volume so as not to disturb his house-guest.

As the first chords rang out, Severus settled into his chair and closed his eyes. There was something very cathartic to him about listening to Black Sabbath. In particular, this first album had spoken to him as a young, disgruntled youth. And now, more than ever, it seemed to have taken on a whole new meaning for him.

_"Generals gathered in their masses,  
>just like witches at black masses.<br>Evil minds that plot destruction,  
>sorcerers of death's construction.<br>In the fields the bodies burning,  
>as the war machine keeps turning."<em>

When Severus opened his eyes again, she was standing before him, bold as brass. She was wearing a worn t-shirt of his and it appeared… nothing else.

"I hope you don't mind… I didn't want to sleep in my dress."

Severus could barely speak. She was wearing _his_ shirt, she was _half naked_ ... in _his_ house.

There were a hundred things he wanted to say to her and somehow he couldn't… even with her standing right there, he couldn't do it. Instead, he gave a noncommittal shrug and took another sip of wine.

Bellatrix, who was rather unfamiliar with this sort of music, began to instinctively move her hips to the rhythms and tousled her wild hair a little as she did.

She was just too beautiful for words and as he watched her dancing around his living room, he was struck by how young they both still were. How young Bella was to be saddled with a brutish husband like Rodolphous. This war had made him feel weathered and had all but consumed whatever "free time" a young man in his twenties ought to have at his disposal.

"What are you thinking about? You look far too serious." She threw her head back and laughed, dipping her hips through the air. Every now and again, the shirt she was wearing would lift slightly and he could see the tops of her creamy thighs.

Severus was beginning to sweat.

_"Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind  
>People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time<br>All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy  
>Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify<br>Can you help me occupy my brain?" _

Bellatrix began to straddle Snape's long legs.

"Bella… I think.. You should go back upstairs" he finally managed to say.

"I'm not tired."

"Bella… this is not… this is wildly inappropriate… I…"

"You need to relax" she gently pushed herself down into his lap and Severus, who was not in any position to hide his true feelings at the moment, flushed with deep embarrassment.

_"I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find  
>I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind"<em>

Before he could work another word in, her lips were crashing against his. She kissed him as if her life depended upon it and he hungrily licked her lips as if they were the last thing he would ever taste on earth.

Bellatrix, being as experienced as she was, certainly did not waste any time and began to unbutton Snape's trousers.

"Wait… no… we – we can't"

"I want to, Severus… I _need_ to."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to do this… I don't expect…"

"I know you don't…" She smiled coyly and shifted her weight in his lap. "...you're decent like that."

"It's just… you're, well.. you're-"

"What? _Married?_ Married to a man I never chose? Destined to live as the property of a man who is such a great coward he has to hit me to feel some semblance of control in a world that's going to implode as it is… a world that may not even be here when we wake up tomorrow morning..."

Severus stared into her eyes… so full of fire, so sad… so scared.

"Bella… I think… I think you're more beautiful than all the mystery of the wide world. I really do lov…"

She silenced him with a kiss and continued to work her hands into his trousers. Again, he stopped her.

"What now?" She seemed thoroughly annoyed. "What's wrong? I thought you liked me?"

"No… I mean, I do... it's not you… Bella… I just... I haven't… There haven't been any other-"

It hit the young witch like a rogue bludger. Severus Snape was a virgin; a twenty-year-old virgin, who had just all but declared his love for her.

Severus took a deep breath and felt a little like he wanted to die.

Bellatrix began to kiss him lightly, leaving a trail down his neck until her chin rested in his lap.

"Please stop…" And then all protest ceased. Bella's mouth enveloped his entirety in warmth and he felt he truly would die, right there in his chair.

_"While down below the trees  
>Bathed in cool breeze<br>Silver starlight breaks dawn from night  
>And so we pass on by<br>The crimson eye of great god Mars  
>As we travel the universe"<em>

And just when he thought he could not stand the pure ecstasy of her lips any longer, she leapt up, ripped her shirt off and slid down onto him.

In that moment, nothing else mattered to the young wizard… nothing but the wild beating of his own heart against her soft, heaving breasts. Nothing would ever matter again except this woman, whom he now definitively knew he could never live without. Should he use words to tell her how much he longed for her? How much he loved her? Cherished her?

If he had wanted to use words, he could think of none which could ever measure up in their meaning, and so, he screamed; a below of primal unhinged emotion… he screamed, and drew her mouth down upon his own without really knowing what he was doing. And in that one moment of carefree connection, two sometime friends became two secret lovers.

Bella rested her cheek against his chest and quietly drifted off to sleep.

But deep within her body, another connection was taking place... and in this quiet moment, a small spark stirred within her.


End file.
